Group

Queens of the Stone Age

From: Palm Desert, United States
Since: 1996–present
Rating: ★ 4.45 (18 votes)
Releases: 93

stoner rock
hard rock
alternative rock
rock
desert rock
art rock
glam rock
occult rock

About

Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated as QOTSA or QotSA) is an American rock band formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1996. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme shortly before he returned to his native Palm Desert. Homme has been the only constant member throughout multiple line-up changes; since 2013, the line-up has consisted of Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, lap steel, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals), Michael Shuman (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), Dean Fertita (keyboards, guitar, percussion, backing vocals), and Jon Theodore (drums, percussion).

Formed after the dissolution of Homme's previous band Kyuss, the band originated from the spread of the Palm Desert music scene. Its self-titled debut album (1998) was recorded with Homme singing and playing all instruments except drums, which were provided by former Kyuss member Alfredo Hernández. Bassist Nick Oliveri joined the band for its accompanying tour and soon became co-lead vocalist, as well as Dave Catching on keyboards, guitar and lap steel alongside Homme. The band's second studio album, Rated R (2000), featured Mark Lanegan as a guest vocalist and was the band's major label debut with Interscope Records. It was critically and commercially successful, and featured the breakout single "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret". The band's third studio album, Songs for the Deaf (2002), featured Dave Grohl on drums alongside contributions from Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider.
After Oliveri's and Lanegan's respective departures in 2004 and 2005, Homme once again became the band's sole lead vocalist; Van Leeuwen and drummer Joey Castillo collaborated with him on Lullabies to Paralyze (2005) and Era Vulgaris (2007). After several years of inactivity, the band signed to independent label Matador Records in 2013 and released a loose trilogy of albums over the next decade: ...Like Clockwork (2013), Villains (2017), and In Times New Roman... (2023). The trilogy brought further acclaim and commercial success, with ...Like Clockwork becoming the band's first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. The band's ninth studio album Perfecth was released on October 30, 2026.
The band has been nominated for 9 Grammy Awards: four for Best Hard Rock Performance, three for Best Rock Album, and one each for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators and is known for incorporating elements of blues, electronica, and krautrock into its riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales.

From Queens of the Stone Age on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members

Josh Homme 1995–1996, 1996–now · original member lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, slide guitar
Troy Van Leeuwen 2002–now background vocals, bass guitar, guitar, keyboard, lap steel guitar, vibraphone
Dean Fertita 2007–now background vocals, guitar, keyboard, percussion
Michael Shuman 2007–now background vocals, bass guitar
Jon Theodore 2013–now drums (drum set), percussion
Chris Goss · former additional
Van Conner 1995–1996 · original member · former bass guitar
Victor Indrizzo 1995–1996 · original member · former percussion
Matt Cameron 1995–1996, 1997–1997 · original member · former drums (drum set), percussion
Mike Johnson 1998–1998 · former bass guitar
Alfredo Hernández 1998–1999 · former drums (drum set), percussion
Dave Catching 1998–2000 · former guitar, keyboard, lap steel guitar
Nick Oliveri 1998–2004 · former background vocals, bass guitar, guitar, lead vocals
Gene Trautmann 1999–2002 · former drums (drum set), percussion
Brendon McNichol 2000–2002 · former guitar, lap steel guitar, piano
Dave Grohl 2001–2002, 2012–2013 · former background vocals, drums (drum set), percussion
Mark Lanegan 2001–2005 · former background vocals, keyboard, lead vocals
Joey Castillo 2002–2012 · former drums (drum set), percussion
Dan Druff 2004–2005 · former bass guitar
Наташа Шнайдер 2005–2005 · former keyboard
Alain Johannes 2005–2007 · former bass guitar, guitar, organ, piano