Brandon Flowers and Tana Mundkowsky first met in 2001 at a thrift store called Buffalo Exchange on Flamingo Road in Las Vegas. Brandon was either 20/21 years old at the time and Tana was 20. Brandon was at the store with Dave, hoping to find some supplies for their first ever gig, and Brandon noticed Tana, who was wearing a bootleg Joy Division t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it and a pink trench coat. Brandon thought she was cooler than him. Tana was working for the US designer Betsey Johnson at the time and later went on to work as a manager at Urban Outfitters, and later became a school teacher.
“She worked at Betsey Johnson. She was cooler than me. I believe in fate. She’s perfect for me. I knew early on. She’s just different, creative, full of life.” – Brandon Flowers.
Tana gave Brandon her number that day.
“She wrote her number down, and she gave it to me, they had to scrape me off the floor.” – Heart of a Girl.
And later that night, Brandon called Tana.
“You have this strange pressure. Do you call her that night, or do you wait a couple days? You don’t wanna seem desperate. I said hell with it and I called her that night.” – Brandon Flowers.
“On our first date, he took me to an all-night record store, and quizzed me on different artists – everything from Bowie to the Smiths and Leonard Cohen. I passed when I told him I had the import version of a Bowie album.” – Tana Flowers.
“My wife and I bonded over this song when we first met. I’d never heard it before and she played it for me while we were driving through Vegas. Both of us were crying in the car at some point. [Tom Waits’ Ruby’s Arms]” – Brandon Flowers.
After dating for a while, Tana decided to convert to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon. She made Brandon’s sister promise not to tell Brandon that she was reading it. And when Brandon came back home from touring, he was surprised to see that she had gotten involved in the church.
“I would have married her regardless. There were no ultimatums.” – Brandon Flowers.
So after 4 years, Brandon and Tana decided to get married and they had an intimate ceremony on the island of O’ahu in Hawaii on the 2nd of August, 2005. Dave, Mark, and Ronnie were there along with a few other crew members.
Tana and Brandon Flowers moved into a house in Henderson, 10 miles from the Las Vegas strip and adopted two dogs as “rehearsal for what’s to come.” One of which was a husky named Nikita. And I think the other was a poodle?
They now have three sons together. Ammon, born July 14, 2007; Gunnar, born July 28, 2009; and Henry, born March 9, 2011. And they live happily ever after.
Some Local Loser 