Queens Of The Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line-up changes. The current line-up consists of Homme alongside Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, lap steel, keyboard, percussion, backing vocals), Michael Shuman (bass guitar, keyboard, backing vocals), Dean Fertita (keyboards, guitar, percussion, backing vocals), and Jon Theodore (drums, percussion). The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators. Queens of the Stone Age are known for their blues, Krautrock and electronica-influenced style of riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock music, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales.

Formed after the dissolution of Homme's previous band Kyuss, the band originated from the Palm Desert music scene. Their self-titled debut album was recorded with former Kyuss members Alfredo Hernández on drums and Homme on all other instruments. Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan joined as additional vocalists for ''Rated R'', which was commercially and critically successful, and featured their breakout single " The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret". ''Songs for the Deaf'' was released in 2002 to universal acclaim and commercial success, and featured Dave Grohl on drums and contributions from Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider. Following Oliveri and Lanegan's departures, Homme was the primary singer for 2005's ''Lullabies to Paralyze'' and 2007's electronic-influenced ''Era Vulgaris''.

After a few years of inactivity, '' ...Like Clockwork'' was released in 2013 and ''Villains'' in 2017 with Mark Ronson as producer for the latter, both of which received critical acclaim.

The band have been nominated for Grammy Awards seven times; four times for Best Hard Rock Performance, twice for Best Rock Album, and once for Best Rock Performance.

History

Formation and debut album (1996–1999)

After the breakup of his previous band, Kyuss, in 1995, Josh Homme briefly joined Screaming Trees as a touring guitarist, before deciding to form a new band, Gamma Ray. In 1996 they released the eponymous ''Gamma Ray'' EP, featuring "Born to Hula" and "If Only Everything" (which would later appear on their self-titled debut as "If Only"). The EP featured Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, Van Conner from Screaming Trees, and percussionist Victor Indrizzo.

Gamma Ray changed their name in 1997 after the German power metal band Gamma Ray threatened to sue. The name "Queens of the Stone Age" came from a nickname given to Kyuss by their producer Chris Goss. Homme said of the name: "Kings would be too macho. The Kings of the Stone Age wear armor and have axes and wrestle. The Queens of the Stone Age hang out with the Kings of the Stone Age's girlfriends when they wrestle ... Rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls. That way everyone's happy and it's more of a party. Kings of the Stone Age is too lopsided."

The first release under the Queens of the Stone Age name was the song "18 A.D.," released on the compilation album ''Burn One Up! Music for Stoners'' which featured members of the Dutch stoner rock band Beaver. The band's first live appearance was on November 20, 1997, at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington, with Cameron on drums, Mike Johnson of Dinosaur Jr. on bass and John McBain of Monster Magnet on guitar. In December that year, the band released a split EP, '' Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age'', which featured three tracks from the Gamma Ray sessions as well as three Kyuss tracks recorded in 1995 prior to their breakup.

Queens of the Stone Age released their self-titled debut in 1998 on Stone Gossard's and Regan Hagar's label Loosegroove Records, and on vinyl by Man's Ruin Records. Homme played guitar and bass on the album (the latter credited to Homme's alter-ego Carlo Von Sexron), Alfredo Hernández on the drums, and several other contributions by Chris Goss and Hutch. Homme reportedly asked Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan to appear on the record, but he was unable due to other commitments.

Soon after the recording sessions were finished for the album, former Kyuss bassist Nick Oliveri joined the group, and touring commenced with a band consisting entirely of ex-Kyuss members. Guitarist Dave Catching joined shortly after. From this point forward, the band's line-up would change frequently; by the time their second album was being recorded, Hernández had left the group to play in other bands.

''Rated R'' (2000–2001)

2000's ''Rated R'' featured myriad musicians familiar with Homme and Oliveri's work and "crew" of sorts: among others, drummers Nick Lucero and Gene Trautmann, guitarists Dave Catching, Brendon McNichol, and Chris Goss contributed, and even Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, recording next door, stepped in for a guest spot on "Feel Good Hit of the Summer."

The album garnered positive reviews and received a lot more attention than their debut, despite the fact that the lyrics to "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" were deemed by mega-retailer Walmart to promote drug use, almost causing the record to get pulled from store shelves. The success of the record also earned the band notable opening slots with The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Hole, and a place at Ozzfest 2000. It was during this time that Homme stated:

During the 2001 Rock in Rio show, bassist Nick Oliveri was arrested after performing on stage naked, with only his bass guitar covering his genitals. Oliveri apologized to officials, saying that he did not know it was a crime in Brazil.

Following his work on ''Rated R'', former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan joined the band as a full-time member, a position he held until early 2005. Towards the end of the ''Rated R'' tour, the band's performance at the 2001 Rock am Ring festival in Germany was, according to Homme, "the worst show we've ever played and it was in front of 40,000 people." The band decided to tattoo themselves with the starting time of the performance, "Freitag 4:15." As Oliveri explained:

''Songs for the Deaf'', mainstream exposure and Oliveri's departure (2001–2004)

Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer, Dave Grohl, joined in late 2001 to record drums for their third album. ''Songs for the Deaf'' was released in August 2002, again featuring Lanegan, along with former A Perfect Circle guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen to the touring line-up following the album's release. Also featured on ''Songs for the Deaf'' for the final track "Mosquito Song" were former A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin on viola and piano, and Dean Ween on guitar.

''Songs for the Deaf'' was a critical hit and was certified gold in 2003, with sales of over 900,000. The singles "No One Knows" and " Go with the Flow" became hits on radio and MTV, with the former just outside the Billboard Top 40. "No One Knows" and "Go with the Flow" were also featured on the first iterations of the popular video games ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Rock Band'' (respectively). The song "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" was featured in the video game, ''Tony Hawk's Underground''. It was also used as the theme song in Naughty Dog's " Jak X: Combat Racing" in 2005 along with "Song for the Dead".

The ''Songs for the Deaf'' tour culminated in a string of headline dates in Australia in January 2004. Grohl returned to his other projects and was replaced on the European leg of the tour by former Danzig drummer Joey Castillo, who joined the band full-time. After the tour, Homme fired Oliveri, as he was convinced that Oliveri had been physically abusive to his girlfriend: "A couple years ago, I spoke to Nick about a rumor I heard. I said, 'If I ever find out that this is true, I can't know you, man.'" Homme considered breaking up the band after firing Oliveri, but found a new determination to continue. Oliveri countered in the press that the band had been "poisoned by hunger for power" and that without him, they were "Queens Lite." He later softened his opinion and said: "My relationship with Josh is good. The new Queens record kicks ass." The two reportedly are still friends and as of October 2006, Oliveri was interested in rejoining the band. Oliveri later contributed to a Queens of the Stone Age for the first time in nine years, contributing backing vocals to the band's sixth album, '' ...Like Clockwork''.

''Lullabies to Paralyze'' (2004–2006)

In late 2004, Homme, along with Eleven multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes and remaining band members Van Leeuwen and Castillo recorded the Queens' fourth studio album, ''Lullabies to Paralyze'', a title taken from a lyric in "Mosquito Song" from their previous album. The album featured guests including ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons. Despite Lanegan reportedly turning down an invitation to remain with the band, he recorded vocals on new tracks (notably the solo vocalist on the opening track "This Lullaby") and appeared on the supporting tour as scheduling and his health permitted.

''Lullabies to Paralyze'' was leaked onto the internet in February 2005 and was aired by Triple J radio in Australia on March 3, 2005 as an unsubstantiated 'World Premiere'. It was then officially released on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 in the US, debuting in the number 5 slot on the Billboard Music Chart, the greatest debut of any Queens record until ''...Like Clockwork'' debuted at number 1 in June 2013.

On May 14, 2005, the group was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, hosted by Will Ferrell. One of Ferrell's popular Saturday Night Live characters, fictional Blue Öyster Cult cowbellist Gene Frenkle, made a re-appearance on the show, playing with the Queens on their first song of the night, " Little Sister." Frenkle played the song's wood block part using a cowbell along with the band.

On November 22, 2005, Queens of the Stone Age released a live album/DVD set, ''Over the Years and Through the Woods'', featuring a live concert filmed in London, England, and bonus features which included rare videos of songs from 1998 to 2005. In 2005, the group supported Nine Inch Nails on their North American tour of ''With Teeth'' along with Autolux (for the first half of the tour) and Death from Above 1979 (for the second). NIN's guitarist Aaron North appeared as an onstage guest with the Queens for the songs "Born to Hula," "Regular John," " Avon," " Monsters in the Parasol" and "Long, Slow Goodbye" at the Wiltern LG in Los Angeles on December 19 and 20, 2005.

Another onstage guest for the December 20 performance was Homme's former Kyuss bandmate John Garcia, the first time that Homme and Garcia had played together since 1997. As a special encore they performed three Kyuss songs: "Thumb," "Hurricane" and "Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop." Homme stated that the band's lowest point was during the ''Lullabies'' era, but that the record "took the lead jacket off" the band following the firing of Oliveri in 2004.

''Era Vulgaris'' and death of Shneider (2007–2008)

On Valentine's Day 2007, the band's official website announced the new album would be titled '' Era Vulgaris'', and would be released in June. Later in February, teaser videos surfaced showing Homme, Castillo, Van Leeuwen and Johannes in studio. Several sites reported that the album would include many guest vocalists, including Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, Julian Casablancas from The Strokes, Mark Lanegan, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and deceased humorist Erma Bombeck. Death from Above 1979 bassist Jesse F. Keeler had been expected to play bass on the studio recording of the album, but not to tour; however, due to schedule conflicts, he stated he would not be appearing on the album.

''Era Vulgaris'' was completed in early April 2007 and released June 12, 2007 in the US. The tracks " Sick, Sick, Sick" and "3's & 7's

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