Queens of the Stone Age

In 1996, after the breakup of Kyuss, Josh Homme decided to form a new band. He chose the name "Gamma Ray", releasing an EP with two tracks on it before receiving a threat from the German power metal band named Gamma Ray to cease and desist using their name.

Back at square one, Josh chose a new direction and rechristened the band "Queens of the Stone Age".

"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, and also it was a name given to us by Chris Goss. He gave us the name Queens of the Stone Age. 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." -- Josh Homme

The band's first live performance was in Seattle, WA, probably in November of 1997. The band released its first studio album, Queens of the Stone Age in 1998 on Loose Groove records. Homme played both guitar and bass on the album (although the latter was credited to Carlo Von Sexron, one of Homme's many nicknames) as well as vocals. Alfredo Hernández handled drums and other contributions were made by Chris Goss and Hutch, who had previously worked with Homme during the Kyuss years.

Just after the recording the album, another former member of Kyuss accepted the invitation and joined Queens. Nick Oliveri took up bass duties, as well as performing vocals on several tracks, when the band recorded their second album, Rated R. Mark Lanegan and Rob Halford also added vocals, with drummers Nick Lucero and Gene Trautmann, guitarists Dave Catching, Brendon McNichol, and Chris Goss contributing various musical tracks.

Rated R was released in 2000 through Interscope and the band began to garner attention with positive reviews and some controversy when Wal-Mart refused to sell the album. The album is considered the band's mainstream breakthrough, with singles Feel Good Hit of the Summer and The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret receiving air play on radio stations around the world. The band also took a position on Ozzfest as well as opening spots for the Foo Fighters, Hole, and Smashing Pumpkins.

Constant touring to support Rated R as well as Foo Fighters/ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl joined the band to record their third studio album, Songs For the Deaf. Mark Lanegan joined the band on a more permanent level, recording several vocal tracks.

The videos for the singles No One Knows and Go With the Flow would become hits on MTV and received airplay on the radio, resulting in No One Knows peaking just outside the Billboard Top 40. The song would also be featured in the video game "Guitar Hero" and Go With the Flow would be a playable track in "Rock Band".

"This record was supposed to sound bizarre-like lightning in a bottle. The radio interludes are supposed to be like the drive from L.A. to Joshua Tree, a drive that makes you feel like you're letting go-more David Lynch with every mile." - Josh Homme

Replacing Grohl during the European leg of the supporting tour was former Danzig drummer Joey Castillo. and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen joined as a second guitarist for the touring lineup.

During early 2004, it was revealed that Homme had fired Oliveri from the band. Although the nature of the dismissal was speculated, as well as fueled by some of the explanations given by Homme in various interviews, the truth has never been revealed.

After the departure of Nick Oliveri, the band returned to the studio to record their fourth studio album. Homme recruited friend and multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes to help record tracks.

Mark Lanegan left the band, after recording some vocal tracks and contributing lyrics to Lullabies to Paralyze, moving on to support his own solo album, which fueled rumors Homme had fired him in addition to Oliveri. Fed up with speculation, Homme began to encourage the rumors. Eventually he set the record straight and Lanegan has since joined the band on stage but has not rejoined the group on a permanent basis.

[on the inspiration for Lullabies to Paralyze] "One of the things was that we sort of disappeared a little bit. Sometimes you actually get caught in the web of things where people are talking about... what kind of breakfast cereal you like. Really the topic of breakfast cereal is generally a very boring one. And so the idea of this Grimm Brothers fairy tale where we could kind of disappear into the woods came about. I love the stories of Hansel and Gretel where basically they are meant to scare the s*** out of little kids!" - Homme

Lullabies to Paralyze was released in early 2005, debuting at #5 on the Billboard Music Chart, the greatest initial success of any Queens album so far. The group was the musical guest for Saturday Night Live in May 2005, with host Will Ferrell joining them on stage during Little Sister as fictional cowbellist Gene Frenkle.

In the fall of 2005, Queens supported Nine Inch Nails' on their With Teeth tour as well releasing a live album/DVD of their concert at the Brixton Academy in London, England, entitling it Over the Years and Through the Woods.

Homme has since stated that the Lullabies to Paralyze-era was the band's lowest point.

On Valentine's Day 2007, a love note from the band to their fans revealed their fifth studio album would be released in June 2007 and entitled Era Vulgaris, Latin for "common era". The album was said to be inspired by Homme's daily drive through Hollywood. The album's title track, Era Vulgaris, was not released on the album but separately as a gift to fans. The track also included guest vocals by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. In addition to Reznor, the album also included special guests Billy Gibbons, Julian Casablancas and Mark Lanegan.

Era Vulgaris also marked the departure of Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider. Bassist Michael Shuman and keyboardist Dean Fertita joined the band for touring duties. The band did a small tour, nicknamed "The Deluth Tour", and played many small towns and cities they would normally not play.

"We basically started a year ago. And like I said, we didn't really have anything written. So it was a long process. It was the longest I've ever taken to make a record, frankly. I've made records over the process of a year but this was the first time it's ever been my total focus for that long. This was the first time I've ever done that...total focus for 10 months." - Troy Van Leeuwen

The album was a success but did not find the critical success of the band's previous releases. The band toured to support the album through 2008. In July of that year, keyboardist Natasha Shneider passed away from cancer. In a tribute and celebration of her life, Queens performed a concert in her honor at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles. The band was joined on stage by Alain Johannes, Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Matt Cameron, Brody Dalle, Jesse Hughes, Chris Goss and PJ Harvey. They played a variety of QOTSA and non-QOTSA songs, with proceeds from the concert going to defray the costs associated with Natasha's medical care.

Since then, the various members of Queens have been busy with their various side and solo projects. Homme recorded an album with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones under the name Them Crooked Vultures and toured to promote it. Van Leeuwen haas been playing with Sweethead. Joey Castillo played drums with Eagles of Death Metal during their tour for Heart On. Dean Fertita joined Jack White's side project The Dead Weather. Michael Shuman started his own band Mini Mansions, who opened for Them Crooked Vultures.

Queens played several festival dates during the 2010 summer and re-released a 10th anniversary edition of Rated R. The re-release of their self-titled debut fell through before being switched to Domino Records, based in the UK, and subsequently was hit with more delays resulting in the release of the remastered self-titled album as MP3s to fans with pre-orders. The band announced a US tour to coincide with the re-release, playing the US in the spring of 2011, as well as some dates in Europe, before heading back to the US to play more shows. The shows consisted of the band playing the entire self-titled release as well as some "oldies but goldies".

Although there were the usual rumors of the band reuniting for their sixth studio album, as well as mentions by band members, nothing is yet concrete about a new Queens album. Speculation points towards a 2012 release due to the touring in support of the self-titled release as well as band members being busy with other groups and personal projects.