The descendents of legendary stoner-metal band Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age are led by singer/guitarist Josh Homme. As the principal songwriter in Kyuss, Homme fashioned the Sabbath-heavy riffs that created the desert acid-rock sound and propelled the band into cult status. Following Kyuss' break-up in late 1995, Homme relocated from Palm Desert, Calif., to Seattle and spent two years touring with the Screaming Trees. He also produced a series of Desert Session albums for Man's Ruin Records that featured a cast of collaborating musicians including former Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepard.
In 1997 he formed Queens of the Stone Age with former Kyuss drummer Alfredo Hernandez and debuted on a split EP later that year. Truly a transitional work, the EP featured three Kyuss B-sides and three new tracks from QOTSA. Nick Oliveri, another veteran of Kyuss, joined the band on bass in early 1998.
Queens of the Stone Age released their self-titled debut album in late 1998 on Loosegroove Records. Homme financed the album, and its reception was overwhelming. Critics hailed the QOTSA as one of the most important hard and heavy bands on the music scene. The following year, the band was signed by Interscope, who released their sophomore effort, Rated R, in 2000.
For their next outing, QOTSA hooked up with Foo Fighter frontman Dave Grohl (who drummed on all but one track), former Screaming Tree Mark Lanegan and Dean Ween (Ween) for 2002’s Songs for the Deaf. The record, with its breakout single, “No One Knows,” landed on many year-end critic’s top-ten lists and brought the band more commercial success than ever before. Grohl soon exited to rejoin the Foo Fighters, thereby continuing QOTSA’s long-standing revolving-door tradition.
