Kings Of Leon, the hardest-partying band of the noughties, have spent the last three years cutting down on the boozing, organising food festivals and fixing their shattered relationships. With seventh album ‘Walls’ ready to go, Mark Beaumont heads to Nashville to hear how the Followills became a family again.
![Return of the Kings](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/5184/184682/57e041fe9ce75/Return-of-the-Kings.jpg)
“Is the ding-dong in shot?” Caleb Followill sucks on his third beer of a lunchtime photo shoot and adjusts a pair of eye-scorching aquamarine slacks, the better to frame the revered orbs and sceptre of the Kings Of Leon’s crown jewels for the camera. “I’m really milking it.” Before the bottle’s dry, this wayward King is leaping in the air performing karate kicks at the lens and studying each shot, muttering, “Should my eyes look glassier? Maybe I should’ve drunk more last night.”
Ding-dong comprehensively milked, Caleb and his band of brothers (and cousin) settle into the chillout area of their Nashville studio Neon Leon, a converted warehouse strewn with signs of rock’n’roll refinement. The lounge room is racked with fine wines and liquors, a hat-stand covered in wigs and hats speaks of post-jam cross dressing parties and a neon Michelob sign hangs over the theatre-sized stage area, illuminating a wall-mounted photograph of the band from 2003, back when they were millennial indie rock hopefuls tagged ‘the Southern Strokes’; hick-haired and nostril-deep in their wild youth and cocaine-fuelled young manhood.
Reports of a cleaned-up Kings Of Leon living like Ned Flanders during a particularly pious Lent ever since Caleb had an onstage meltdown in Dallas in 2011 – walking offstage midway through a show and prompting a year-long hiatus that was essential to stop the band disintegrating – have been mildly exaggerated.
“I definitely would not be having beer like this normally,” Caleb insists, flicking cigarette ash onto the carpet and raising a fourth bottle. “We just had a big dinner at my house and I got hungover so I have to drink. But we spend a lot of time sober, Palestinian Wall kinda cool.”
Denne historien er fra September 09 2016-utgaven av NME.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 09 2016-utgaven av NME.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![The Ultimate Guide to Apple Music Festival 10](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/185622/57e0641f44850/crp_Apple-Music-Festival-10.jpg)
The Ultimate Guide to Apple Music Festival 10
Since 2007, Apple Music Festival has made it its mission to bring massive artists to an intimate and iconic corner of London – and the line-up for its 10th anniversary, at the Roundhouse in Camden, is the best yet…
![Red Nose Day](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/196904/58382fd5367e7/crp_Red-nose-day.jpg)
Red Nose Day
Shawn Crahan – AKA Slipknot’s Clown – talks killer clowns and his directorial debut
![A Letter From Lana](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/140969/56953726df9a9/Lana-del-Rey.jpg)
A Letter From Lana
Back in September, we optimistically emailed Lana Del Rey a bunch of questions about life, love, Twin Peaks, Courtney Love and “intergalactic possibilities”. Three months later the answers turned up. Interrogation by Al Horner. Introduction by Dan Stubbs.
![Bowie - The Man Who Changed The World](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/146747/569faf0f321e8/David-Bowie.jpg)
Bowie - The Man Who Changed The World
On Monday January 11, it was announced that one of the greatest talents music has ever seen was dead. Mark Beaumont celebrates the magnificence of David Bowie.
![Kanye West - Making A Masterpiece](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/151044/56c1f53450f33/Kanye-West.jpg)
Kanye West - Making A Masterpiece
In 2013, Kanye West became a father. In 2014, he got married. In 2015, he announced he’d be running for President. Now he’s calling his brand-new LP “the greatest album of all time”. Larry Bartleet asks how he got there.
![Idris Elba: How to Win at Everything!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/161185/571545a06c122/Idris-Elba.jpg)
Idris Elba: How to Win at Everything!
Actor, DJ, musician and all-round righteous badass, Idris Elba makes doing everything look easy. As The Jungle Book, in which he plays tiger Shere Khan, opens in cinemas, he tells Olly Richards about the secrets to his success.
![Rihanna: Pop's Biggest Rebel](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/126155/560afa2205bb0/Rihanna.jpg)
Rihanna: Pop's Biggest Rebel
Rihanna is more than a superstar. She's the ultimate icon of the digital age. She's had more Number One singles in 10 years than Madonna has managed in three decades, and she's now the First Lady of the new free NME. Peter Robinson went to LA to hang out with pop's biggest rebel.
![Why The Big Bang Theory Is The New Friends](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/126155/560afd2a0cd02/The-Big-Bang-Theory.jpg)
Why The Big Bang Theory Is The New Friends
The Big Bang Theory is the biggest show in the solar system. With the cliffhanger-charged ninth season set to drop on September 21, Joe Madden tots up the parallels between the Central Perk gang and the Cheesecake Factory crew.
![Sound track of my Life](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/186702/57e9234437bbe/crp_Soundtrack-of-my-Life.jpg)
Sound track of my Life
Adventurer, man of the great outdoors
![Good Things Come to Those Who Wait](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5184/211742/58b9089f3f7d5/crp_Good-Things-Come-to-Those-Who-Wait.jpg)
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
It’s been four years since London Grammar’s hugeselling and aptly titled debut album ‘If You Wait’. Now, as 2017 promises world domination for the trio, they talk about the long journey to album number two