Jesse Everett Hughes (born September 24, 1972) is an American singer and musician. He is best known as the frontman of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Eagles of Death Metal Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998. Founded by Jesse Hughes (vocals, guitar) and Josh Homme (drums), the band also includes a wide range of other musicians who perform both on the band's ...

, with whom he has recorded four studio albums and a live album. Hughes is also known for his solo career under the moniker Boots Electric.

Early life

Jesse Everett Hughes was born in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

, on September 24, 1972. At age seven, he moved with his mother Jo Ellen to

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has bee ...

. In high school, he met

Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he form ...

, and they became good friends after Homme stopped a bully from picking on Hughes. He graduated from

Greenville Technical College Greenville Technical College is a public community college in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1960, it began operation in September 1962. Campuses Greenville Tech currently has six locations in Greenville County: *Barton Campus (main loca ...

with a degree in journalism and worked as the manager of a video depot in Palm Desert for several years.

Career

Eagles of Death Metal

Hughes and Homme formed

in 1998. Hughes credits Homme with saving his life, claiming that during the recording of the second Eagles of Death Metal album ''Death By Sexy'', he fell into serious

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...

and that Homme not only drove him to

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

, but paid for it as well. On November 13, 2015, Le Bataclan theatre in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

was attacked by terrorists while Eagles of Death Metal were performing. The band escaped via the backstage area, but their merchandise manager Nick Alexander was killed. The attacks killed 90 fans at the theatre. Other related attacks occurred in Paris at restaurant terraces that night, for a total of 130 deaths in all, including the Bataclan murders and 1 person killed at the Stade de France in a preliminary attack.

Other projects

Hughes is one of the characters in the book ''

Sex Tips from Rock Stars ''Sex Tips from Rock Stars: In Their Own Words'' is a book by Paul Miles that quotes answers from 23 rock stars to many questions on a broad range of sexual topics. The editors claim that the book is the world's first confessional by rock stars ...

'' by Paul Miles published by

Omnibus Press Omnibus Press is a publisher of music-related books. It publishes around 30 new titles a year to add to a backlist of over 250 titles currently in print. History Omnibus Press was launched in 1972 as a general non-fiction publisher to complem ...

in July 2010. In September 2011, Hughes released ''Honkey Kong'', his first solo album under the nickname Boots Electric. It was released on

Dangerbird Records Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...

. In 2015, Hughes appeared in the Björn Tagemose-directed silent film '' Gutterdämmerung'' alongside

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

, and

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

. In 2017, Hughes starred in the

Colin Hanks Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including ''Orange County'', ''King Kong'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits include ' ...

directed documentary ''Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends'') about the November 13, 2015, terrorist attack in Paris that claimed 89 lives at the Eagles of Death Metal's Bataclan Theatre concert. The documentary also features

and

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

. In 2020
MUSE TV
an
Culturally Obsessed
announced Hughes as their Senior Reporter. In 2021, Memphis musician

Muck Sticky Muck Sticky (born Justin Osburn; 1977) is an American musician, songwriter, actor and artist. Muck Sticky has self-released eighteen albums since 2004, and was featured on the MTV series, ''$5 Cover''. Career Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee ...

and Hughes collaborated and released a song and music video, Stir Crazy. In 2021,

announced their 24th anniversary tour.

Musical equipment

Eagles of Death Metal - Rock am Ring 2019-4571

Hughes is currently endorsed by

Maton Maton is an Australian musical instruments manufacturing company based in Box Hill, Melbourne. It was founded in 1946 by Bill May and his brother Reg. The name "Maton" came from the words "May Tone" and is pronounced ''May Tonne''. Products ...

guitars and

Orange amplifiers Orange Music Electronic Company is an English amplifier manufacturing company, noted for their products' distinctive sound and the bright orange Tolex-like covering of their heads and speaker cabinets. The company was founded in 1968 by Cliff ...

Guitars

* Maton MS500 Electric * Maton BB1200 Electric * Maton EAJ85 Jumbo Acoustic * Yamaha AES1500 * Custom Gretsch Duo Jet

Effects

* Ernie Ball Wah Pedal * Boss DD-6 Delay *

TC Electronic TC Electronic (sometimes stylized as t.c. electronic) is a Danish audio equipment company that designs and imports guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post-pr ...

Nova Drive Overdrive/Distortion * Boss TU-2 Tuner * EHX Mini Q Tron * EHX Deluxe Memory Man Classic Chassis * MOOG MF-102 Moogerfooger Ring Modulator * MXR Phase 100 * Boss BF-3 Flanger * Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer * Vox V8474 Wah * Custom L.A. Sound Design Pedalboard

Amplifiers

* Orange Rockerverb 50w combo * Orange 4x12 Cabinet * Laney Amplifier

Personal life

Hughes is divorced and has a son named Micah. Hughes is currently in a relationship with his long-time girlfriend, bass player Tuesday Cross. Hughes uses many different nicknames, including "J. Devil", "The Devil", "Boots Electric", and "Fabulous Weapon" (the latter two being band names used by his father). In November 2008, he revealed that his bandmate

gave him "The Devil" nickname when he was 13: "I used to get picked on a lot, and when I would get picked on severely, or if it really made a point to me, I would get vengeance, but I would get vengeance in the way that I could, which was mostly clever and all consuming. Joshua once witnessed me in the moment I was about to enact vengeance upon someone, and he just said, 'You're the fucking devil dude,' and it stuck." In a November 2008 interview, Homme described himself and Hughes as "socially liberal but government conservative guys". Hughes' political views became more

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

over the following years, and he revealed in December 2013 that he had even "wanted to be a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician" in his youth. He has described himself as a "proud Zionist".

Controversies

In October 2015, the documentary ''The Redemption of the Devil'' gave a behind-the-scenes look at Hughes' life. While generally well-received, the documentary mostly gained attention for Hughes' erratic behavior, which included beginning a relationship with a former porn actress and getting ordained as a minister with the

Universal Life Church The Universal Life Church (ULC) is a non-denominational religious organization founded in 1962 by Kirby J. Hensley,James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions' (2001), p. 769-70.U.S. Department of the Army, ''Religious R ...

. In February 2016, Hughes made a series of controversial statements blaming

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

liberal values Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

, and French gun control laws for the November 2015 Bataclan attack, as well as claiming that Muslims " elebratedin the streets" during the attack. He also speculated that it was an

inside job An insider threat is a malicious threat to an organization that comes from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates, who have inside information concerning the organization's security ...

, claiming that security personnel who did not report to the venue that day "had a reason not to show up". He and his band were then dropped from the lineup of two French music festivals. Bataclan management said that Hughes and his manager were refused entry to the venue when he tried to visit on the anniversary of the attack. This has been denied by the band's manager Marc Pollack as well as journalists that were at the event. In January 2017, Hughes' former friend Andrew Julian Vega obtained a

restraining order A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protection or ...

against Hughes after he sent Vega death threats. In March 2018, Hughes attacked the

March for Our Lives March for Our Lives (MFOL) was a student-led demonstration in support of gun control legislation. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the United States and around the world, and wa ...

protesters on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, calling them "pathetic" and "disgusting vile abusers of the dead". He accused the survivors of the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...

who participated in the protest of "exploiting the death of 16 of our fellow students for a few

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

likes and some media attention" while accusing one of them, X González, of treason. He later deleted the posts amidst widespread criticism and apologized five days later, saying, "I was not attempting to impugn the youth of America and this beautiful thing that they accomplished. I truly am sorry, I did not mean to hurt anyone or cause any harm."

Discography

Filmography

References

External links

Official Eagles of Death Metal siteJesse talks to Mattias and Dave-Os of Band of the DayJesse Hughes In SPIN's November IssueBoots Electric tribute Movember team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Jesse 1972 births Living people American rock singers American rock guitarists Musicians from Greenville, South Carolina Singers from South Carolina South Carolina Republicans Survivors of terrorist attacks November 2015 Paris attacks 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from South Carolina Eagles of Death Metal members 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers