Brothers

Brothers is the sixth studio album by American rock duo The Black Keys. Co-produced by the group, Mark Neill, and Danger Mouse, it was released on May 18, 2010, on Nonesuch Records. Brothers was the band's commercial breakthrough, as it sold over 73,000 copies in the United States in its first week and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, their best performance on the chart to that point. The album's lead single, "Tighten Up", the only track from the album produced by Danger Mouse, became their most successful single to that point, spending 10 weeks at number one on the Alternative Songs chart and becoming the group's first single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 87 and was later certified gold. The second single, "Howlin' for You", went gold as well. In April 2012, the album was certified platinum in the US by the RIAA for shipping over one million copies. It also went double-platinum in Canada and gold in the UK. In 2011, it won three Grammy Awards, including honors for Best Alternative Music Album. Background Tensions had grown within the band by 2009, and the two embarked on side projects. Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach was introduced to engineer Mark Neill through friend Liam Watson, and with his assistance built his own analogue studio (later named Easy Eye Sound System) at his home in Akron, Ohio, and in late 2007 the two convened in Neill's La Mesa, California, home to record. The sessions became Auerbach's solo debut Keep It Hid, which was released in February 2009 on Nonesuch Records to positive reviews. Drummer Patrick Carney, who had not been informed of Auerbach's solo plans, was livid: "Everybody knew but me. I was mad at Dan. I was mad at our manager. I was mad at everybody." Carney was afraid Auerbach had moved on and was on the verge of quitting the band; the two hardly spoke for several months and another Black Keys recording was uncertain. Auerbach, who had played Carney the recordings but failed to mention it would see release, found it increasingly difficult to communicate with the drummer due to his antipathy for Carney's then-wife, Denise Grollmus. Auerbach said, "I really hated her from the start and didn't want anything to do with her." Carney realized his anger was misdirected as he was coming off a rough divorce. He and Grollmus were married for two years but together for nine. According to the drummer, his ex-wife slept with his best friend, lied to him for several years and bilked him for money.