In 2002, Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning played their first live show together at the Cafe Espresso Roma in Las Vegas. After Matt Norcross was fired and Dell Star quit the band due to personal reasons, bass player Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr joined. The band initially practiced in Vannucci's garage as he was the only member who owned a house and performed in small clubs around in Las Vegas, Nevada. Influenced by music styles of the 1980s and the 1990s, the group signed with Island Def Jam recording label. In 2004, they released their first album Hot Fuss, that brought the band mainstream success.

In July 2005, The Killers performed on the London stage of the Live 8 concert, playing "All These Things That I've Done". In 2006, they released their second album Sam's Town. Featuring "When You Were Young", "Bones" and "Read My Mind", the album sold over 706,000 copies worldwide in the first week of release, peaking at number two on the Billboard chart. The album was certified 4x Platinum in the United Kingdom, Platinum in the United States, and 2x Platinum in both Australia and Canada. In 2007, they released a compilation album Sawdust containing B-sides, rarities, and unreleased material. Most recently, the band released their third studio album Day & Age, produced by Stuart Price.