[12] Two music videos were made for the song: the first one was shot in black and white and features the band performing in an empty room and the second one was based on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!.

[22] Lyrically, "Mr. Brightside" depicts a true story of Flowers' jealousy and paranoia when he walked into a bar in Las Vegas and found his girlfriend cheating on him.

[26][27]The song was mixed for its inclusion on Hot Fuss by Mark Needham, along with business partners Braden Merrick and Jeff Saltzman.

In their first performance together as the Killers, Flowers and Keuning played "Mr. Brightside" as part of a two-song open-mic night set at Las Vegas' Cafe Roma.

"[30] In November 2001, the group had recorded "Mr. Brightside" along with three other demos including "Desperate", "Replaceable", and "Under the Gun" at Mike Sak's Kill the Messenger Studio in Henderson, Nevada.

[31] The Killers performed the song live on the rooftop of Caesars Palace during halftime of the Las Vegas Raiders' first-ever home game at Allegiant Stadium on September 21, 2020; the halftime show was broadcast on U.S. television on ESPN and ABC's simulcast coverage of Monday Night Football.

[32][33] In one of the song's first reviews, The Washington Post stated, "dashing through the tune as if it were a power ballad on speed, Flowers and company had the capacity crowd pulsing along with glee.

"[34] "Mr. Brightside" became a popular song within the Las Vegas music scene with one reviewer calling it a "feel-good anthem that ranks as one of the best local tracks in a long time".

It was the UK's most streamed pre-2010 song, until it was surpassed by Oasis' "Wonderwall" in late 2018,[52][failed verification] and continued to be purchased for download hundreds of times a week by 2017.

[48] In January 2025 "Mr Brightside" reached 350 weeks in total on Ireland's singles charts, despite never having been in the Irish top forty.

Directed by Sophie Muller, the video stars Flowers, Izabella Miko, and Eric Roberts in a love triangle, occurring within the context of a burlesque show.

The US version won an MTV VMA in 2005 for Best New Artist in a Video, beating other nominees such as John Legend, Ciara, The Game, and My Chemical Romance.

[57][58] An extended version of the Stuart Price remix of the song was featured on the Killers' 2007 B-side and rarities compilation, Sawdust.

An early demo of the song featured Dave Keuning on bass and Matt Norcross on drums, before Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci were members of the band.

On the Killers' 2012 album Battle Born, they released "Miss Atomic Bomb", which is considered a companion song to "Mr. Brightside" lyrically.

[61] Many other artists have performed live covers of the song, including American rock band Fall Out Boy, Chris Daughtry at The Masked Singer USA, Isa Raja on X Factor Indonesia and Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald.

The song has also been covered by the Vitamin String Quartet, Boyce Avenue and on the UK television show Orange Unsigned Act by contestant Tommy Reilly.

Additionally, a cappella versions have been produced by groups including Wheaton College's Gentlemen Callers, MIT's Resonance[61] and Boston-based Overboard.

[63] An acoustic version of the song covered by British singer-songwriter Charlotte Campbell was played during Love Island series 7 in 2021.

[65] In the episode "The New Era" of the teen drama series The O.C., which aired on December 2, 2004, the Killers play various songs from Hot Fuss, including "Mr. Brightside", "Everything Will Be Alright", and "Smile Like You Mean It" during a scene involving a double-date in the Bait Shop.

[66][67][68] The song was nominated for a Grammy in 2006 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, but lost to a live version of "This Love" by Maroon 5.