Turn Blue is the eighth studio album by American rock duo the Black Keys. It was co-produced by Danger Mouse and the band, and was released on Nonesuch Records on May 12, 2014. The record was the group's fourth collaboration with Danger Mouse, following their previous studio album, El Camino (2011), which was their biggest commercial and critical success to that point. For Turn Blue, Danger Mouse reprised his role from El Camino as an equal songwriting partner alongside guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.
The Black Keys recorded the majority of Turn Blue at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California, from July to August 2013, with additional recording taking place at Key Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, in early 2014. The sessions coincided with Auerbach's divorce from his wife, which inspired much of the album's lyrics. The resulting material was more melancholy and slower paced than the uptempo, hook-laden songs from El Camino. The album exhibits influences from psychedelic rock and soul, further departing from the raw, blues rock sound of the group's early years. In addition to representing the record's moody tone, the title was selected as a homage to the "turn blue" catchphrase used by 1960s horror host Ghoulardi.
The band announced the album in March 2014 via a tweet by retired boxer Mike Tyson and a series of cryptic YouTube videos featuring a hypnotist. The song "Fever" was released as the lead single in March, and it charted in several countries. Four additional singles were released, including "Gotta Get Away", which was a rock radio success in North America. Turn Blue received favorable reviews from critics, many of whom commented on Danger Mouse's growing influence on the band. The album debuted at number one in the United States, Australia, and Canada, becoming the group's first record to top the charts in those countries. In May 2014, they embarked on a world tour in support of the album. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Turn Blue was nominated for Best Rock Album, while "Fever" received nominations for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.Turn Blue is the eighth studio album by American rock duo the Black Keys. It was co-produced by Danger Mouse and the band, and was released on Nonesuch Records on May 12, 2014. The record was the group's fourth collaboration with Danger Mouse, following their previous studio album, El Camino (2011), which was their biggest commercial and critical success to that point. For Turn Blue, Danger Mouse reprised his role from El Camino as an equal songwriting partner alongside guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.
The Black Keys recorded the majority of Turn Blue at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California, from July to August 2013, with additional recording taking place at Key Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, in early 2014. The sessions coincided with Auerbach's divorce from his wife, which inspired much of the album's lyrics. The resulting material was more melancholy and slower paced than the uptempo, hook-laden songs from El Camino. The album exhibits influences from psychedelic rock and soul, further departing from the raw, blues rock sound of the group's early years. In addition to representing the record's moody tone, the title was selected as a homage to the "turn blue" catchphrase used by 1960s horror host Ghoulardi.
The band announced the album in March 2014 via a tweet by retired boxer Mike Tyson and a series of cryptic YouTube videos featuring a hypnotist. The song "Fever" was released as the lead single in March, and it charted in several countries. Four additional singles were released, including "Gotta Get Away", which was a rock radio success in North America. Turn Blue received favorable reviews from critics, many of whom commented on Danger Mouse's growing influence on the band. The album debuted at number one in the United States, Australia, and Canada, becoming the group's first record to top the charts in those countries. In May 2014, they embarked on a world tour in support of the album. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Turn Blue was nominated for Best Rock Album, while "Fever" received nominations for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.false2025-11-07 21:57:32Turn Blue20142014-05-092014-05-0945Alternative RockBlues RockNeo-PsychedeliaPsychedelicPsychedelic Rock1120122272492cf847551-c895-4e8a-8c9d-8ceb07bbc9d4d15721d8-56b4-453d-b506-fc915b14cba2d0f34ec7-9608-4302-98c5-8dbda869857b/media/data/media5/Music/The Black Keys/Turn Blue/folder.jpgThe Black KeysThe Black KeysThe Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their records, before they eventually emerged as one of the most popular garage rock artists during a second wave of the genre's revival in the 2000s. The band's raw blues rock sound draws heavily from Auerbach's blues influences, including Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Howlin' Wolf, and Robert Johnson.
Friends since childhood, Auerbach and Carney founded the group after dropping out of college. After signing with indie label Alive, they released their debut album, The Big Come Up (2002), which earned them a new deal with Fat Possum Records. Over the next decade, the Black Keys built an underground fanbase through extensive touring of small clubs, frequent album releases and music festival appearances, and broad licensing of their songs. Their third album, Rubber Factory (2004), received critical acclaim and boosted the band's profile, eventually leading to a record deal with major label Nonesuch Records in 2006. After self-producing and recording their first four records in makeshift studios, the duo completed Attack & Release (2008) in a professional studio and hired producer Danger Mouse, who subsequently became a frequent collaborator with the band.
The group's commercial breakthrough came in 2010 with Brothers, which along with its popular single "Tighten Up", won three Grammy Awards. Their 2011 follow-up El Camino received strong reviews and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, leading to the first arena concert tour of the band's career, the El Camino Tour. The album and its hit single "Lonely Boy" won three Grammy Awards. In 2014, they released their eighth album, Turn Blue, their first number-one record in the US, Canada, and Australia. After completing the Turn Blue Tour in 2015, the duo took a hiatus for several years to work on side projects and produce other artists. They returned in 2019 with their ninth album, Let's Rock. They have since released three additional studio albums: Delta Kream (2021), consisting of hill country blues covers; Dropout Boogie (2022); and Ohio Players (2024).