Although it was released in 2011, The Black Keys’ El Camino was one of the biggest albums of 2012; it catapulted the group to arena-headlining status and earned them five GRAMMY nominations, including Album Of The Year.  By year’s end, they joined The Rolling Stones on stage at a big pay-per-view concert, collaborated with Wu-Tang Clan mastermind The RZA, and sold out two concerts at Madison Square Garden. So, how did the blues-rock duo from Ohio become one of the biggest bands in the world? Check out our Inside Album Of The Year video below:

We spoke with experts, including Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly, Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone, author Alan Light (The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah”, read about his book here), Jillian Mapes of Radio.com, Booker and McCabe from AMP Radio and Stryker from KROQ weigh in on the garage band’s road to the GRAMMYS.   

In the coming weeks, you can look forward to Inside Album Of The Year installments for other nominees fun., Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons and Jack White. The Black Keys have just been announced as one of the performers at The GRAMMYS, which air live on CBS, Sunday, February 10 at 8 pm ET. 

– Brian Ives, Radio.com