Mr. Brightside

"Mr. Brightside"
A purple cameo of a woman on a black background
Single by the Killers
from the album Hot Fuss
B-side
ReleasedSeptember 29, 2003 (2003-09-29)[1]
Studio
Genre
Length3:43
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)The Killers
The Killers singles chronology
"Mr. Brightside"
(2003) 		"Somebody Told Me"
(2004)
"Somebody Told Me"
(2004)
"Mr. Brightside"
(2004 (re-issue))
"All These Things That I've Done"
(2004)
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, 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] It is one of only two songs (the other being Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You") to have been certified 10× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for 6 million units.

"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]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ukrel1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Devotta, Sam (November 29, 2017). "(Un)Covered: Mr. Brightside". idobi Radio. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference stone was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Kellman, Andy. Now That's What I Call Music 19 (2005): Review at AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  5. ^ Pareles, Jon (May 15, 2013). "Arena-Rock Masters, Unafraid to Leave the Lights On". New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  6. ^ Scarisbrick, Betsy (September 24, 2017). "Review: The Killers' 'Wonderful Wonderful' is less than wonderful". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  7. ^ Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2024. Not many pop-rock songs have the instantaneous ability to bring strangers together quite like "Mr. Brightside" can.
  8. ^ Rolli, Bryan (October 4, 2017). "The Killers and Panic! at the Disco: How the Two Veteran Rock Bands Took the Long Way to the Top". Billboard. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Partridge, Kenneth (September 1, 2015). "With Hot Fuss, The Killers caused (and defined) a scene". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  10. ^ Rolling Stone Staff (June 28, 2018). "The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2023. 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.
  11. ^ Graff, Gary. "Retro Rockets The Killers' Rock Act Takes off despite Labeling as 1980s Band: [Final Edition]." Proquest. N.p., May 27, 2005. Web. September 27, 2016.
  12. ^ "The History Of 'Mr. Brightside' By The Killers, 10 Years Later". The Huffington Post. July 12, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  13. ^ Paul Grein (January 9, 2013). "Week Ending Jan. 6, 2013: The First Top 10 Hit of 2013". Chart Watch. Yahoo Music. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  14. ^ "The Killers' Mr Brightside overtakes Wonderwall to become the UK's Official biggest single of all time yet to reach Number 1". Official Charts.
  15. ^ Brandle, Lars (April 7, 2021). "The Killers' 'Mr Brightside' Chalks up U.K. Chart Milestone". Billboard.
  16. ^ Alexandra Pollard. "'Sex On Fire' revealed as UK's most downloaded rock song ever". gigwise.com.
  17. ^ Savage, Mark; Taylor, Alex (May 9, 2024). "Mr Brightside: The Killers' hit becomes the biggest song never to top charts". Music. BBC News. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  18. ^ "The Killers Mr Brightside is most played song". Belfast Telegraph. April 20, 2010.
  19. ^ "Top 100 most streamed songs on Spotify *Updated". Spotify.
  20. ^ "Celebrity News, Gossip and Photo Galleries – HuffPost Celebrity UK". Spinnermusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  21. ^ Hermes, Will, Christian Hoard, Jody Rosen, and Rob Scheffield. "50 Best Songs of the 21st Century." Proquest. N.p., January 7, 2010. Web. September 26, 2016.
  22. ^ "500 Best Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 15, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2022.