El Camino was produced by Danger Mouse and The Black Keys and was recorded in the band’s then-new hometown of Nashville during the spring of 2011.The Black Keys won three awards at the 55th annual GRAMMY Awards fo El Camino– Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album—among other worldwide accolades. In the UK, the band was nominated for a BRIT Award (Best International Group) and an NME Award (Best International Band).The week of release, the band performed on Saturday Night Live, the Colbert Report, and the Late Show with David Letterman, and later that year, went on to perform their first Madison Square Garden show.

In the UK, the record gave the band their first top 10 hit, and in the US it debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. The band was also the #1 most played artist at Alternative and AAA radio formats for 2012 in the US. The album’s first single, “Lonely Boy”: reached #1 on the Alternative and AAA charts; it also entered the top 10 at Rock radio.The second single, “Gold on the Ceiling,” also reached #1 on Alternative radio and the third single, “Little Black Submarines,” reached the top 3 at Alternative radio.