Bruce Springsteen and The Killers drop new song 'Dustland'

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 6/16/2021, 2:35 p.m.
Talk about a collaboration. The Killers and Bruce Springsteen have joined forces on a new track called "Dustland." It is …
Brandon Flowers, the frontman of The Killers, told Rolling Stone that Bruce Springsteen has greatly influenced him as a musician. Mandatory Credit: Getty Images

Originally Published: 16 JUN 21 14:27 ET

By Chloe Melas, CNN

(CNN) -- Talk about a collaboration.

The Killers and Bruce Springsteen have joined forces on a new track called "Dustland." It is a remake of The Killers' 2008 song "A Dustland Fairytale," written as a tribute to the lead singer's parents.

Brandon Flowers, the frontman of The Killers, told Rolling Stone that Springsteen has greatly influenced him as a musician and that's why he wanted to collaborate with "The Boss."

"I attribute my discovery and absorption of his music with helping me become a more authentic writer," Flowers said. "He helped me to see the extraordinary in everyday people and their lives. And in this case, it was my parents who were under the microscope. Their faith and doubts, their search for salvation in the desert. It sounds Biblical. It also sounds Springsteenian."

Flowers, whose band's biggest hits include "Mr. Brightside" and "When You Were Young," said the collaboration came about right at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when he got a text from Springsteen.

"It means a whole lot to get a text from Bruce," Flowers added. "Let alone an appearance on a song of ours. He's living, breathing American royalty."

View Our E-Editon