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Kings Of Leon’s Caleb Followill admits he wanted Sex On Fire cut from Only By The Night: “I knew instantly: ‘Everyone’s gonna hear this and they’re not gonna listen to the rest of the album’”
“I knew it had potential, but I felt like there were other songs…”
Image: Buda Mendes / Getty Images
Kings of Leon‘s Caleb Followill has revealed the reasons he did not want Sex On Fire on their fourth studio album Only By The Night.
Speaking to NME about their latest record Can We Please Have Fun, the band details what it was like making music without the pressure of deadlines from label executives.
“There was more freedom as far as knowing that this record isn’t gonna be finished and then you’re gonna have a couple guys in suits come sit down and be like, ‘That’s a single, that’s a single,’” says Nathan, Caleb’s brother and bandmate.
“Usually whatever the label likes, I’m like, ‘Oh, I hate that,’ Caleb admits. “A lot of times they’re right and it ends up being successful.”
Citing Sex on Fire as an example of that happening in the past, he says: “I didn’t want it on the album. But I knew it was… I knew it had potential, but I felt like there were other songs… I knew instantly: ‘Everyone’s gonna hear this and they’re not gonna listen to the rest of [the album].’”
The song ended up giving Kings of Leon their first number-one single in Australia, Finland, Ireland, and the UK. In September 2009, it was Britain’s second most-downloaded digital single ever. On the other side of the pond, the track reached number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the band’s second highest-charting song there.
In 2008, Sex on Fire earned the band their first Grammy nominations. It was nominated for Best Rock Song, and won the award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Over time, the members have learned to embrace the fact that many people will always associate them with that particular song. “It’s kind of like a nickname. Someone gives you a nickname and you act like you hate it… you are stuck with that for the rest of your life,” says Nathan.