Queens of the Stone Age

With a revolving cast of motley, gnarled rockers, Josh Homme led Queens of the Stone Age on a pounding stomp through a heavy haze of blues rock and psychedelia. Built around thundering jams and driving riffs, their sound emanates from their spiritual home at the Rancho de la Luna recording studio in Joshua Tree, California, where the dusty heat of the desert and the narcotic air of punk blends into meaty rock & roll. Formed by Homme after the demise of his former band Kyuss, early albums 'Queens of the Stone Age' (1998) and 'Rated R' (2000) quickly earned the tag "stoner rock" as singles 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' and 'The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret' became firm fan favourites. Helped by Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan, third album 'Songs for the Deaf' (2002) broke into the mainstream, charting at number 17 in the US and number four in the UK. The departure of bass player Nick Oliveri in 2004 created a new line-up for the well-received 'Lullabies to Paralyze' before 'Era Vulgaris' adopted a darker, more groggy feel dabbling with synths and featuring Strokes front man Julian Casablancas and Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails. The band took a break from touring in 2009-10, with several members working on side projects; Homme formed supergroup Them Crooked Vultures with Grohl and John Paul Jones. In 2010 Homme suffered severe post-op complications after having surgery on his knee and was confined to his bed for several months. Although considering giving up music completely during this time, he put what energy he had into creating 'Like... Clockwork', which was eventually released in 2013 and featured collaborations with Jake Shears, Brody Dalle and Elton John. They announced that work had begun on their seventh album offering in 2014, but two years later they revealed they were taking a break. They returned with 'Villains' in 2017 with the lead single 'The Way You Used to Do' breaking the top 20 in the US.

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