Kings of Leon Accept ‘Glee’ Creator Ryan Murphy’s Apology
Hanging backstage at Coachella two hours before their set last night, Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon took the opportunity to set the record straight about the brouhaha that erupted earlier this year when they refused to license their songs to Glee. It seems the air has been cleared: The Followill brothers graciously accepted show creator Ryan Murphy’s recent apology for the war of words. “I’m glad he said something,” frontman Caleb Followill told Rolling Stone. “We don’t hold grudges.”
While Caleb said he still has yet to watch an episode of Glee, the band is friendly with star Matthew Morrison, and drummer Nathan Followill thinks Jane Lynch is “fucking hilarious.” “I’ll just be glad when I can check my Google alerts and don’t have to read anything about us and Glee,” Nathan added. “That’ll be a wonderful feeling.”
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Glee aside, the band was excited to be playing Coachella again – and headlining for the first time. “It’s always good to play the festival on the first night, because the kids haven’t had 72 hours of sun beating the shit out of them,” Nathan said. “The last time we played here [in 2007] was the only gig that I ever played without a shirt on,” added Caleb. “And it wasn’t because I thought I was sexy, it was just so hot! It’s cool to be able to get up there on the big stage while the sun’s down.”
The Kings were recently forced to cancel a series of March dates when Nathan injured his shoulder, but he’s recuperated faster than expected. “I had shoulder surgery on December 23rd, and they told me I wouldn’t be able to play for probably nine months,” he said. “Well, that was three and a half months ago.” After a few warm-up gigs this month – “I didn’t want to get out there and the first show be Coachella and have my arm fall off,” he joked – Nathan was more than ready to get back on stage: “Man, I got my [physical] therapist here. I’m going to get worked out for about an hour before we go on, maybe take a pain pill or two. I think we’ll let loose tonight.”
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The band is also excited for fans to see Talihina Sky, the documentary about their early days that premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival next week. “We had a camcorder on our first-ever tour,” Nathan said. “We just thought, ‘Ten years from now when we’re all working at Target, we can put this tape in and show our kids how we used to wear girls’ jeans,’ or whatever.” Instead they ended up with a revealing depiction of the family relationships behind the band. “We show a side of ourselves that most people wouldn’t have the balls to show,” Nathan said. Added Caleb: “No one would have the fucking balls. Most people would put this kind of documentary out after their career was over.”