The Killers brought the worlds of music and sports together when they paused their concert in London on July 10 so that the audience could watch the final minutes of England’s 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the semi-final of the 2024 Euros soccer tournament. As frontman Brandon Flowers tells NME, he and his bandmates had to prepare ahead of time for the variety of different ways the game could’ve ended.
“We had scenarios planned for if they won, if they lost, if it went an extra 30 minutes, if it went to penalties,” Flowers says. “We had everything covered and it just happened when it happened.”
After the final whistle blew, The Killers immediately went into the opening chords of “Mr. Brightside,” which made history in May when it became the biggest single in the history of the U.K. to not hit #1.
“It ended up being something that timed out really well,” Flowers says. “You can’t really make anything happen like that. It was a lot of luck.”
Unfortunately, The Killers’ viral moment wasn’t enough to propel England to a Euros championship win — they lost 2-1 to Spain during Sunday’s final.