In its first week, Mechanical Bull sold approximately 120,000 copies, well on its way to achieving the 732,000 U.S. ““We weren’t on somebody else’s dime so we could pretty much go in whenever we wanted and stay as long as we wanted – we had a lot more input and a lot more control.” “There was no pressure on this record,” said Caleb. The freedom offered by low expectations allowed Kings of Leon to return to their roots, recording the entirety of the new album in a Nashville paint factory with long-time producer Angelo Petraglia, who has worked on all six of their offerings. But was really a blessing in disguise, because that's how we found out about the issues with his throat," said Ken Levitan, who co-manages the band. Management tells Billboard Caleb was suffering from vocal problems: Amid highly publicized rumours of the band’s break up, they finished up tour obligations and headed back to Tennessee, tail between legs. During a 2011 Dallas show, Caleb left the stage, promising to vomit, drink a beer, and return. Then came sell out shows, headlining festival slots, and the inevitable burnout. The record earned them four Grammy Awards and sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
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Though their first three albums sold around 500,000 records each in the States according to Nielsen SoundScan, it wasn’t until 2008’s Only by the Night, which included hit singles “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” that the band rocketed to stardom. Much has changed since brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared and cousin Matthew began playing their radio-friendly brand of anthemic rock in 1999. “We’re big into good food and so we wanted to show some chefs from around the world how cool Nashville is,” said Caleb, guitarist, singer, and avid cook.