The Black Keys

The Black Keys are an American blues rock duo from Akron, Ohio. The band consists of singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. The band's name comes from a schizophrenic artist named Alfred McMoore, whom the duo knew and who allegedly left incoherent messages on their fathers' answering machines, referring to them as "black keys" when he was angry.

The band released their debut album, The Big Come Up, in 2002 on the independent label Alive Records, a label specialising in underground music founded by Patrick Boissel. In 2003, they joined the Mississippi-based blues label Fat Possum Records and achieved global success with the album Thickfreakness. The Black Keys pay strong tribute to the late guitarist Junior Kimbrough, whom they consider their main source of inspiration. They have rearranged many of his songs, including Do the Rump on The Big Come Up and Everywhere I Go on Thickfreakness. In 2006, they even dedicated a mini-album to him, Chulahoma, comprising 6 covers of the guitarist's work. The album Brothers, released on 18 May 2010, sold over a million copies. Their eighth album, Turn Blue, was released on 7 May 2014. After a break, they subsequently released Let's Rock (2019), Delta Kream (2021), Dropout Boogie (2022), Ohio Players (2024), and No Rain, No Flowers (2025).