"Mr. Brightside" | ||||
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Single by the Killers | ||||
from the album Hot Fuss | ||||
B-side |
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Released | September 29, 2003[1] | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 3:43 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | The Killers | |||
The Killers singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Mr. Brightside" on YouTube |
"Mr. Brightside" is the debut single of American rock band The Killers.[11] It is taken from their debut studio album, Hot Fuss (2004). Written by band members Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning, it was one of the first songs the Killers ever wrote.[12] Two music videos were made for the song: the first one was shot in black and white and features the band performing in an empty room and the second one was based on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!.
The song was first released on September 29, 2003. It became more popular when re-released in 2004, peaking at number 10 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It is the Killers' best-selling song in the US, where it has sold over 3.5 million copies.[13] In the United Kingdom, it is the 3rd biggest selling/streaming song of all time and is the longest-charting single on the UK Official Singles Chart Top 100, having spent over 408 weeks (nearly seven and a half years) on the chart as of 2024[update], and is the most streamed track released prior to 2010.[14][15] It is also one of the top fifteen most downloaded rock tracks ever in the United Kingdom[16] and is the most successful single to never top the British charts.[17]
"Mr. Brightside" was named "Song of the Decade" by UK radio stations Absolute Radio and XFM, and in April 2010 Last.fm revealed that it was the most-listened-to track since the launch of the online music service, with the track being played over 7.66 million times.[18] It is the most streamed song on Spotify from the 2000s.[19] In October 2010, it was voted ninth in the Greatest Guitar Riffs of the 21st Century so far by Total Guitar magazine.[20] Additionally, in 2010 Rolling Stone listed "Mr. Brightside" as the 48th-best song of the 21st century,[21] and in 2021, it was ranked number 378 in the same magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.[22]
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Not many pop-rock songs have the instantaneous ability to bring strangers together quite like "Mr. Brightside" can.
Except "Mr. Brightside," a frenzied mash of jealousy and paranoia, New Wave and post-punk that achieved chart success the Strokes could only dream of.