In a recent article from The Daily Beast, vocalist and frontman of the highly successful rock band The Killers discussed how the LDS faith has helped him and members of his family stay on top of sobriety in the face of a family history of alcoholism.
Flowers began by recounting the history of alcohol abuse in his family and how faith completely changed his father’s way of life. Flowers’ great-grandfather, grandfather, and father all suffered from ongoing alcohol addiction in their lives. Then, when young Brandon was 6 years old, his father met LDS missionaries and was converted. This had a profound effect on Flowers’ father’s drinking and smoking addictions, and Flowers remembers the change he saw in his dad having a major impact on himself throughout his most formative years growing up. “My dad became a better person when he stopped doing all that stuff, so it was a big lesson for me,” he said. Flowers realized from a young age to be wary of alcohol because of the effects it could have on him in the future as a father—especially because of the history of addiction he recognized in his family.
Then at the young age of 22, Flowers and the band he fronted The Killers quickly climbed the ladder to fame with their hit single “Mr. Brightside.” This gave Flowers exposure to a world heavily saturated with drug and alcohol use, and it was during this time that he gave in to the temptations to smoke and drink, sometimes going too far with how much he took in. “It’s so attractive when you’re young,” he recounted. “You hear the stories and all the rock ’n’ roll mythology, so it’s all there in the palms of your hands. It’s enticing. I never went to rehab or anything, but I drank and smoked.”
Fast forward four years later, and Flowers was married with a child on the way. It was at this time that he remembered the example of his father and decided to kick his habits of smoking and drinking for good. He also committed to sticking to an LDS lifestyle more fully, and soon Flowers noticed positive effects not only in his family but also in how he performed at live shows. “I sang better, I had more longevity, and I felt better. That was about eight years ago. And being committed to my wife and family, I can’t think of a downside to it.”
Sobriety, for Flowers, is a way of life deeply rooted in his religious conviction: “You’re more yourself, and you’re more wholesome. I believe in God, so I believe it’s the way that He intended us to be.”