Kings of Leon are a rock band from Tennessee, comprised of 3 Followill brothers, Caleb (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Jared (bass) and Nathan (drums) and their first cousin Matthew Followill (lead guitar). The brothers spent much of their youth travelling around the South with their father, a traveling United Pentecostal Church preacher and their mother, who taught them when they were not in school. After various jobs, the brothers moved to Nashville in 1998, and Nathan and Caleb originally sang country music, working for a brief period of time with label and management group Pistol Creek Productions, and performing at rodeos. They also were members of the West Tennessee Mass Choir for a short time. In 2000, they formed a band, along with cousin Matthew, their name inspired by Caleb, Jared and Nathan's father and grandfather, who were both named Leon. The band were introduced to Nashville-based, Emmy-nominated singer, songwriter and producer Angelo Petraglia (who had previously worked with artists such as Patty Griffin and Emmy Lou Harris), and eventually Petraglia, Nathan and Caleb went New York City with manager Ken Levitan to audition for record labels, getting 4 offers from 9 auditions, and signing for RCA records. They returned to Nashville and began writing, releasing an EP, “The Holy Roller Novocaine”, in 2003 (with all the songs co-written by Petraglia).

Debut album 2003’s “Youth and Young Manhood” (drawing its title from their fathers bible, according to Jared), again co-written by Petraglia, who also contributed guitar and co-produced the album with Ethan Johns, contained 4 of the 5 songs from “The Holy Roller Novocaine” EP (with the songs "California Waiting" and "Wasted Time" being remade). It was received better in Europe than it was in the US, and the songs "Molly's Chambers", "Red Morning Light", and "Holy Roller Novocaine" were used in various TV adverts, video games and movies ("Holy Roller Novocaine" was used in the the films “Stuck on You” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”).

Kings of Leon’s second album “Aha Shake Heartbreak”, again produced by Angelo Petraglia and Ethan Johns with Jacquire King handling the recording and mixing duties, was released in October 2004 (UK) and February 2005 (US), with "The Bucket" (a Top 20 hit in the UK), "Four Kicks", and "King of the Rodeo" all released as singles. Another single "Taper Jean Girl" was used in the 2007 thriller movie, “Disturbia”, and the band enjoyed praise from luminaries in the rock world such as Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Bryan Adams, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Radiohead, and Bob Dylan.

In March 2006 Kings of Leon’s were back in the studio, working on their third album, entitled “Because of the Times” (which may be a reference to a large UPC ministers conference of the same name held in Alexandria, Louisiana that the brothers often attended). The album, relased in April 2007, debuted at number 1 in the UK and number 25 in the US, shifting around 70,000 copies in its first week of release.

In September 2008, the band unleashed their fourth LP, “Only By The Night”, which entered the UK Album chart at number 1, selling over 220,000 copies. “Sex on Fire”, the first single, was released at the same time, and became their first UK Top 10 hit and also first UK number 1.