Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1996. The band frequently changes its line-up, and its records often include guest appearances. The only permanent member of the band is founder Josh Homme, with guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen having been a member since the release of the band's third studio album, Songs for the Deaf, in 2002. Bassist Michael Shuman and keyboardist and guitarist Dean Fertita both joined the band in 2007 to tour in support of its fifth studio album, Era Vulgaris (2007). In 2013, Queens of the Stone Age added drummer Jon Theodore during the recording of the album ...Like Clockwork (2013).
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. Dave Catching, a former Kyuss guitar tech, 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.[4]
Mid-way through touring, Grohl was replaced by Joey Castillo. After the tour finished in 2004, Oliveri was fired by Homme, his initial replacement was guitar tech Dan Druff, before Alain Johannes joined full-time in 2005, alongside Natasha Shneider on keyboards. Lanegan left in 2005. Following a tour in 2006, Shneider also left, followed by Johannes in 2007. Their replacements were Dean Fertita and Michael Shuman respectively.[6][7]
Castillo left in 2012, he was replaced by Grohl for recording of ...Like Clockwork.[8]Jon Theodore joined as permanent drummer the following year.[9]
Performed with the band on their first ever shows in 1997 and was credited for sitting on a sofa during the recording of the self-titled record and provided backing vocals on the track "Leg of Lamb" on Rated R.
Contributed backing vocals to the track, "Lost Art of Keeping A Secret", on Rated R, and the B-sides, "Ode to Clarissa" and "Born to Hula". Stahl also toured with the band from 1998 to 1999 to perform backing vocals on various songs and performed lead vocals on Desert Sessions songs that were played, including "Cake (Who Shit in The?)" and "At the Helm of Hells Ships". He made a further live appearance on September 25, 2000, to perform "Nova".
Was a longtime guitar tech for Queens since Rated R. After Oliveri's departure from the band in 2004, Dan Druff briefly joined the touring line up playing bass and guitar.
Played keys on My God Is the Sun live at the Grammy Awards in January 2014 and produced the bonus track "Era Vulgaris" from the album of the same name as well as contributing vocals and drum programming on "Kalopsia" and background vocals on "Fairweather Friends" from ...Like Clockwork.
Timeline
Contributors
"It really is more of a musical experiment… It keeps moving and reinventing itself. That way we never get painted into a corner."
Josh Homme, 2000
Guitarists
Chris Goss – A long time collaborator with the band throughout their career, contributing on every album previous to ...Like Clockwork with various instruments, mainly guitars, and co-producing Rated R and Era Vulgaris together with Josh Homme as the Fififf Teeners. Has also made several live appearances throughout the band's career.
Dean Ween (aka Mickey Melchiondo) – Played guitar and provided backing vocals during the recording of Songs for the Deaf.
Billy Gibbons – Recorded "Burn the Witch", as well as the bonus tracks, "Precious and Grace" and "Like a Drug" for Lullabies to Paralyze. Also made live appearances in 2005 which can be seen in the bonus footage on the Over the Years and Through the Woods DVD.
Aaron North – Made guest appearances with the band at various performances in 2005.
John Garcia – contributed backing vocals to 1997's "Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age" split EP and made a live appearance on December 20, 2005, performing Kyuss songs with the band.
Nick Eldorado – Contributed backing vocals to the tracks, "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" and "Quick and to the Pointless", on Rated R.
Rob Halford – Contributed backing vocals to the track, "Feel Good Hit of the Summer", on Rated R.
Pete Stahl – Contributed backing vocals to the track, "Lost Art of Keeping A Secret", on Rated R, and the B-sides, "Ode to Clarissa" and "Born to Hula". Stahl also toured with the band from 1998 to 1999 to perform backing vocals on various songs and performed lead vocals on Desert Sessions songs that were played, including "Cake (Who Shit in The?)" and "At the Helm of Hells Ships". He made a further live appearance on September 25, 2000, to perform "Nova".
Brody Dalle – Contributed backing vocals to two of the band's studio albums: Lullabies to Paralyze and Era Vulgaris. Also appeared live with Queens to sing lead and backing vocals at the tribute concert for Natasha Shneider in 2008.[10]
Bobby Gillespie – Sang lead vocals on the Brian Eno cover Needles in the Camel's Eye, which is the B-side to Make it Wit Chu.
Trent Reznor – Co-wrote the bonus track, "Era Vulgaris", and contributed backing vocals to the songs "Kalopsia" and "Fairweather Friends" on ...Like Clockwork.
Alex Turner – Contributed backing vocals to the track, "If I Had a Tail", on ...Like Clockwork, and co-wrote the lyrics to "Kalopsia" on the same album.
Jake Shears – Provided co-lead vocals to the track, "Keep Your Eyes Peeled", on ...Like Clockwork.
^As the sole founding member of Queens of the Stone Age, Homme has performed and recorded with the band since its inception in 1996 and has been the only constant member of the band.
^Has been the band's second guitarist and multi-instrumentalist since 2002, joining the band for the tour preceding the release of Songs for the Deaf. Van Leeuwen has contributed to all subsequent recordings and tours.
^Joined the band in 2007 as bassist and backing vocalist for the tour following the release of Era Vulgaris.
^Replaced the late Natasha Shneider as the band's keyboardist and backing vocalist in 2007, also plays guitar and various percussion instruments. Fertita joined the band at the same time as Michael Shuman.
^Joined after the departure of Joey Castillo, and interim drummer Dave Grohl, contributing to the final track on ...Like Clockwork and its subsequent tour.
^Recorded the band's debut album, Queens of the Stone Age, and toured in support of the album, leaving the band prior to the recording of Rated R.
^Oliveri had previously played alongside Josh Homme in the band Kyuss, and joined Queens of the Stone as its permanent bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist, in 1998, upon the release of its debut album, Queens of the Stone Age (1998). Oliveri and Homme became the band's core two members, and the duo recorded the breakthrough albums, Rated R and Songs for the Deaf, together before Homme fired Oliveri in 2004 for excessive partying and an alleged incident of domestic abuse. The duo repaired their friendship shortly afterwards. Oliveri, however, did not return to the band. In 2013, upon hearing that former contributor Dave Grohl was recording drums for the band's sixth studio album, ...Like Clockwork, Oliveri asked Homme if he too could return on bass guitar. Homme ultimately did not grant Oliveri's request. He does, however, appear on backing vocals on the album track, "If I Had a Tail". Oliveri made a live appearance singing "Millionare" in August 2014, and on October 31, 2014, Oliveri reunited with the band once again for the last show of their ...Like Clockwork tour during the encore, performing "Millionaire" along with "Auto Pilot", "Quick and to the Pointless", "Gonna Leave You" and "Another Love Song" for the first time in ten years.
^Founding member Josh Homme had previously performed as a live guitarist for Lanegan's band Screaming Trees in 1996, with Homme subsequently wanting to include Lanegan's vocals on the band's debut album, Queens of the Stone Age (1998). Lanegan, however, did not make a vocal contribution until the recording Rated R, singing lead vocals on the track, "In the Fade", and backing vocals on three other songs. Following the album's release, Lanegan became a full-time member of the band, becoming its third lead vocalist, alongside Homme and Nick Oliveri. The trio, alongside drummer Dave Grohl, recorded the band's third studio album, Songs for the Deaf, with Lanegan remaining in the band until the release of Lullabies to Paralyze in 2005. During the tour that preceded the album's release, Lanegan also provided live keyboards but eventually left the road citing exhaustion. Lanegan eventually returned to live performances, but left the band as a full-time member upon the tour's close. Lanegan subsequently appeared as a backing vocalist on the Era Vulgaris track, "River in the Road", on the ...Like Clockwork tracks, "If I Had a Tail" and "Fairweather Friends", and made live appearances in 2007 and 2010.
^Grohl replaced Gene Trautmann during the recording of the band's third studio album, Songs for the Deaf, performing drums and percussion on the majority of the album's tracks. Grohl remained within the band during its initial tour dates in support of the album, before returning to his primary project, Foo Fighters, later that year. In 2007, Grohl made a one-off guest appearance with the band to perform "Make It wit Chu", and subsequently replaced his successor Joey Castillo, in late 2012, recording drums on ...Like Clockwork. He made another one-off live appearance to play drums on My God Is the Sun at the 2014 Grammy Awards.
^Initially called in to replace drummer Dave Grohl for the European leg of the Songs for the Deaf tour, Castillo remained a member of the band until November 2012, when he was fired by Homme during the recording of ...Like Clockwork. Castillo recorded drums on Lullabies to Paralyze, the live album, Over the Years and Through the Woods, Era Vulgaris, and contributed to four tracks on ...Like Clockwork before his dismissal.
^Johannes has been a close collaborator of the band since 2000, initially co-producing three of Rated R's B-sides, under the moniker "The Exotic Pets", with Josh Homme. Johannes subsequently appeared on Songs for the Deaf, performing on four of the album's tracks, and made significant contributions to Lullabies to Paralyze, following Nick Oliveri's departure. Johannes toured with the band throughout 2005, appearing on the live album, Over the Years and Through the Woods, and recorded both guitar and bass on Era Vulgaris. Johannes is credited with providing "additional engineering" on ...Like Clockwork, and is also a live member of Homme's side-project, Them Crooked Vultures.
^Formerly of the band Eleven - alongside her husband Alain Johannes - Shneider first recorded the B-sides, "Never Say Never" and "Who'll Be the Next in Line", with the band, providing keyboards and piano. Schneider subsequently appeared on Songs for the Deaf, performing on three of the album's tracks, and joined the band as a full member in 2005 during the Lullabies to Paralyze tour, appearing on the live album, Over the Years and Through the Woods. On July 2, 2008, Shneider died following a battle with cancer. The band performed a concert in celebration of her life on August 16, 2008 at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles.
