QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

'Queens of the Stone Age' ('QotSA' or simply 'Queens') are a rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997.
Originally formed under the name Gamma Ray by guitarist Josh Homme, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy music which Homme described as 'robot rock', saying that he "wanted to create a heavy sound based on a solid jam, and just pound it into your head". The band is frequently described as stoner rock, although they reject the term.^[1][2]
Their sound has since evolved to incorporate a variety of different styles and influences.

Contents

History

Early career (1996–1999)

''Rated R'' (1999–2001)

''Songs for the Deaf'' (2001–2004)

''Lullabies to Paralyze'' (2004–2006)

''Era Vulgaris'' (2006–present)

Contributors

Current touring line-up

Other contributors

Guitarists

Bassists

Drummers

Keyboardists

Vocalists

Discography

See also

References

External links

Official

Unofficial

History

Early career (1996–1999)

Queens of the Stone Age began with Josh Homme in 1996. Originally called 'Gamma Ray', Homme changed the name to 'Queens of the Stone Age' in 1997 as German power metal band Gamma Ray was threatening to sue:
On why the band chose the name 'Queens of the Stone Age' rather than 'Kings of the Stone Age':
The band's first release was ''Gamma Ray'', a two-track EP released in January 1996, featuring Joshua Homme (Kyuss), Matt Cameron (Soundgarden), Van Conner (Screaming Trees) and John McBain (Monster Magnet).^[3]
The band's first live appearance was probably November 20, 1997, at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington.^[4] In December of the same year, the band released a split EP, ''Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age'', which was the first official release by the band under the name Queens of the Stone Age, and featured three tracks from the Gamma Ray sessions as well as three Kyuss tracks recorded in 1995 just prior to their break-up.^[5]
The band released their self-titled debut, ''Queens of the Stone Age'' (1998) on Loose Groove records (the album was also released on vinyl by Man's Ruin Records), which was recorded with Homme handling both guitar- and bass guitar-playing duties, Alfredo Hernández on the drums, and included several other instrumental and vocal contributions by Chris Goss and Hutch. Prior to forming Queens of the Stone Age, Homme had played with the Screaming Trees as a backing guitarist for two years of touring^[6] and asked Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan to appear on the record, but he was unable to due to other commitments. Soon after the recording sessions were finished for the album, former Kyuss bassist Nick Oliveri and guitarist Dave Catching joined and touring commenced. A recording of a phone message which plays the voice of Oliveri stating his decision to join the band can be heard at the end of the album's final song, "I Was a Teenage Hand Model". From this point forward, the band's line-up would change frequently. By the time their second album was being recorded, Hernández was no longer in the band.

''Rated R'' (1999–2001)

Main articles: Rated R (album)

2000's ''Rated R'' featured a plethora of 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 received positive reviews but found little commercial success, aside from scoring the band notable opening slots with the Foo Fighters, Hole, and at Ozzfest 2000.
During the Rock in Rio 2001 show, bassist Nick Oliveri was arrested for going up to the stage naked, with only a bass guitar. In an interview he said: "Whoa people in Carnival here dance naked why can't I do the same?"^[7]
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":

''Songs for the Deaf'' (2001–2004)

Main articles: Songs for the Deaf


Frequent touring for ''Rated R'' generated support for the band which grew when Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl joined in late 2001/early 2002 to record their third album. ''Songs for the Deaf'' was released in August, featuring former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, a floater since ''Rated R'', as well as adding former A Perfect Circle guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen to the touring line up following the album's release. Although ''Songs for the Deaf'' gained major attention, Grohl returned to his other projects and was replaced on the European leg of the album's supporting tour by former Danzig drummer Joey Castillo, who joined the band full time. Also featured on ''Deaf'' for the final track ''Mosquito Song'' were former A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin (on viola and piano) and Ween's Mickey Melchiondo on guitar.
''Deaf' was a critical and commercial success and its popularity peaked when the album reached gold status in 2003, with sales peaking at over 900,000 copies.^[8] The singles "No One Knows" and "Go with the Flow" became hits on radio and MTV, with the former peaking just outside of the Billboard Top 40. Constant touring continued, culminating in a string of headline dates in Australia in January of 2004, after which Oliveri was fired from the band by Homme for what was said to be disrespect of the group's fans and excessive partying. In July 2005 however, Homme claimed in a BBC Radio 1 interview that Oliveri was fired when Homme had become convinced that he had been physically abusive to his girlfriend. Homme said, "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.'"^[9] Oliveri countered in the press that the band had been "poisoned by hunger for power" and that the band without him was "Queens Lite;" later Oliveri softened his opinion and said, "My relationship with Josh is good. The new Queens record kicks ass."^[10] As of October 2006, Oliveri remains interested in rejoining the band.^[11]

''Lullabies to Paralyze'' (2004–2006)

Main articles: Lullabies to Paralyze


In 2005, 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.^[12]
The release featured the appearance of several guests, most notably 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 with the band on the supporting tour as scheduling and his health permitted. It had been rumored that Homme fired Lanegan; however, this was subsequently refuted:
''Lullabies to Paralyze'' was leaked onto the internet in February 2005, and then officially released on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 in the USA, debuting in the number 5 slot on the Billboard Music Chart, the greatest initial success of any Queens record to date.
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, drawing much applause.
On 22 November 2005, the band released a live album/DVD set called ''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 fall of 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 19th and 20th 2005.
Another onstage guest for the December 20th 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".^[13]
Homme has stated that the band's lowest point was during the ''Lullabies'' era,^[14] but that the record "took the lead jacket off" the band following the firing of Oliveri in 2004.^[15]

''Era Vulgaris'' (2006–present)

Main articles: Era Vulgaris (album)


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.^[16] Later in February, teaser videos surfaced showing Homme, Castillo, Van Leeuwen and Johannes in studio,^[17][18]. 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,^[19] and in what might be an example of Homme's dry wit, deceased humorist Erma Bombeck.^[20] Former 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,^[21] however due to schedule conflicts he stated he would not be appearing on the album. When questioned in an interview with Ultimate Guitar Archive about the band settling down with one line-up, Homme replied with the following:
''Era Vulgaris'' was completed in early April 2007^[22] and released in June 2007 in the U.S.^[23] The tracks "Sick, Sick, Sick" and "3's & 7's" were released as singles in early June.^[24] Homme has described the record as "dark, hard, and electrical, sort of like a construction worker".^[25]
Bassist Michael Shuman (Wires on Fire) and keyboardist Dean Fertita (The Waxwings, The Raconteurs) took over touring duties from Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider respectively.^[26][27] In July 2007, Van Leeuwen stated the band had written new material, "still in its infancy"^[28] which Homme later suggested might be released as an EP.^[29] Following a subsequent interview with Homme, ''The Globe and Mail'' reported that the EP "could contain as many as 10 B-sides recorded during the ''Era Vulgaris'' sessions."^[30]

Contributors

Contributors are listed by their instruments, period of live appearances and studio/recording appearances. Records are abbreviated as follows: ''K/Q''– ''Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age''; ''QotSA'' - ''Queens of the Stone Age''; ''Split'' – ''The Split CD''; ''R'' - ''Rated R''; ''SftD'' - ''Songs for the Deaf''; ''LtP'' - ''Lullabies to Paralyze''; ''EV'' - ''Era Vulgaris.

Current touring line-up

The live band touring in support of ''Era Vulgaris'' is as follows:

★ Joshua Homme – vocals, guitar (touring 1997–present); ''K/Q'', ''QotSA'', ''Split'', ''R'', ''SftD'', ''LtP'', ''EV''

★ Troy Van Leeuwen – guitar, keyboards, lap steel, backing vocals (touring 2002–present); ''LtP'', ''EV''

★ Joey Castillo – drums (touring 2002–present); ''LtP'', ''EV''

★ Michael Shuman – bass, backing vocals (touring 2007–present)

★ Dean Fertita – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals (touring 2007–present)

Other contributors

Guitarists

★ Brendon McNichol – guitar, lap steel, keyboards (toured 2000–2001); ''SftD''

★ David Catching – guitar, lap steel, keyboards (toured 1998-2000); ''QotSA'', ''R'', ''SftD'', ''LtP''

★ Mario Lalli – guitar, lap steel, keyboards (toured 1999)^[31]

★ John McBain – guitar, vocals (live appearance 1997)

★ Chris Goss - guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals, production (various live performances 2001-2006); ''K/Q'', ''QotSA'', ''R'', ''SftD'', ''LtP'', ''EV''

★ Dean Ween (aka Mickey Melchiondo) - guitar, backing vocals; ''SftD''

Bassists

★ Alain Johannes – bass, guitar, backing vocals (toured 2005-2007); ''SftD'', ''LtP'', ''EV''

★ Dan Druff – bass (live member 2005)

★ Nick Oliveri – bass, vocals (toured 1998–2004); ''R'', ''SftD''

★ Mike Johnson – bass (live appearance 1998)

★ Van Conner – bass (live appearance 1997-1998); ''K/Q''

Drummers

★ Dave Grohl – drums (toured 2002); ''SftD''

★ Gene Trautmann – drums (toured 1999–2002); ''R'', ''SftD''

★ Nick Lucero – drums, percussion; ''R''

★ Barrett Martin - drums, percussion; ''R''

★ Alfredo Hernández – drums (toured 1998–1999); ''K/Q'', ''QotSA'', ''Split''

★ Matt Cameron – drums (live appearance 1997)

★ Vic the Stick - drums; ''K/Q''

Keyboardists

★ Natasha Shneider – keyboards, vocals (toured 2005); ''SftD''

Vocalists

★ Mark Lanegan – vocals (toured 2001-2005, live appearance 2007 T in the Park festival); ''R'', ''SftD'', ''LtP'', ''EV''

★ John Garcia - vocals (live appearance 2005 - to sing "Thumb", "Hurricane" and "Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop".)^[13]

★ Pete Stahl - vocals (live appearance 1998-1999 - to sing "Cake (Who Shit on the?)")

★ Matt Cameron - vocals (live appearance 1997 - to sing "Anderson Anderson")

Discography

Date of release	Title	Record label
September 22, 1998	''Queens of the Stone Age''	Mans Ruin Records/Loosegrove Records/Roadrunner Records
June 6, 2000	''Rated R''	Interscope Records
August 27, 2002	''Songs for the Deaf''	Interscope Records
March 22, 2005	''Lullabies to Paralyze''	Interscope Records
June 12, 2007	''Era Vulgaris''	Interscope Records

See also

★ Palm Desert Scene

References

1. Queens set out to explore musical boundaries
2. Rock (No Stoner Required)
3. Discography entry for ''Gamma Ray''
4. QOTSA
5. Discography entry for ''Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age''
6. Queens of the Stone Age Review Christopher J. Kelter
7. Um Oliveri incomoda muita gente?
8. [1]
9. Homme Comes Clean On Oliveri Firing Jonathan Cohen
10. Jenkins, Sacha. "Ready to Rumble." ''Spin''. May 2005.
11. Nick Oliveri - Mondo Uncontrollable Dave Kerr
12. Queens of the Stone Age Interview
13. Queens Of The Stone age joined by unexpected guest
14.
15.
16. I was at the Sizzler today.
17. QOTSA Rocks Hard, Fast On 'Era Vulgaris
18. 'Queens Of The Stone Age Creating Era Vulgaris', Youtube.com
19. Casablancas, Reznor Rumored Guests on QOTSA Album
20. Queens of the Stone Age Will Not Settle Down, Except For Fans
21. ''Mel in the Morning'' interview with Jesse Keeler
22. Smoking Section: Playing poker with the Strokes, Foo Fighters album news, Marilyn Manson's "dirty" film, Roger Waters calls from the road Scaggs, Austin
23. Queens of the Stone Age official website
24. Queens of the Stone age unveil new album artwork

25. Ask the Band
26. Queens of the Stone age unveil new album artwork

27. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Films 'Sick, Sick, Sick' Video
28. Queens Of The Stone Age discuss Duluth tour
29. Queens new material
30. Princes Charming – well, almost
31. Lalli substituted for Dave Catching who was touring in Europe with earthlings? between April 10 and April 27, 1999
32. Queens Of The Stone age joined by unexpected guest

External links

Official

★ qotsa.com - the official QOTSA site. (Flash required)

★ rekordsrekords.com - the band's record label. (Flash required)

★

Unofficial

★ thefade.net Oldest and most visited QOTSA fansite

★ Born To Hula is dedicated to QOTSA and closely related bands.

★ qotsa-news.com specializes in QOTSA news.