Synopsis
Holy Rock 'N' Rollers: The Story of Kings of Leon, written by prolific music biographer Joel McIver and published in 2010, is the first comprehensive biography of the American rock band. The book charts the group's highly unusual trajectory from their deeply religious upbringing in the American South to their explosive, meteoric rise as global rock superstars. McIver contextualizes the band’s unique sound and identity by examining how their sheltered childhood, spent traveling across the Pentecostal preaching circuit with their minister father, heavily influenced their songwriting and tight-knit family dynamic.
The narrative shifts to the early 2000s, detailing how brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill, alongside their cousin Matthew, were discovered by the American music industry and subsequently took the United Kingdom by storm. McIver vividly recreates the frenzy surrounding their 2003 debut, capturing the sudden clash between the band's strict religious roots and the intense "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" lifestyle of the London music and fashion scenes. He explores how they survived this volatile period of excess, which frequently threatened to tear the band apart from within.
As the biography progresses, it tracks their transition from critical darlings of the indie-rock underground to mainstream giants, peaking with the massive global success of their 2008 album Only by the Night and its anthemic singles "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody". McIver presents an older, wiser band reflecting on their newfound glory, their headlining festival slots, and their struggle to maintain their artistic integrity amid massive commercial expectations. Ultimately, the book serves as a compelling exploration of fame, family, and the enduring tension between sacred upbringings and secular rock stardom.