Josh Homme

Josh Homme biography

Joshua Michael Homme ( , see below; born May 17, 1973) is an American rock musician, and record producer. He was the guitarist and a founding member of the stoner rock band Kyuss, as well as the founding and only continuous member of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age (aka QOTSA), in which he sings, plays guitar, and serves as the band's primary songwriter. He co-founded and occasionally performs with Eagles of Death Metal as its drummer, and continues to produce and release a musical improv series with other musicians, mostly from the Palm Desert Scene, known as The Desert Sessions. In 2009, he appeared in a new project called Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones. Them Crooked Vultures released their debut album in 2009. In 2010, Homme concentrated his efforts on Them Crooked Vultures over all other projects.

Early life

Homme was born in Joshua Tree, California and grew up in Palm Desert. He began playing guitar at age 9 after his parents denied his wishes for a drum kit. He joined his first band, Autocracy, in his youth at age 12.

At age 15 in 1988, Homme formed a heavy metal band with school mates John Garcia and Brant Bjork in Palm Desert called Sons of Kyuss (originally known as Katzenjammer, and then as Sons of Kyuss, which was then shortened to Kyuss after the release of their eponymous EP). Homme was the band's lead guitarist. The band would become a cult phenomenon by the early 1990s. The band often drove for hours out to isolated locations in the desert and plugged into generators to perform, and these events, known as "generator parties" became urban legend among rock subculture. As of November 2010, Kyuss is back together (as Kyuss Lives!), but Homme is not part of the reunion.

When Kyuss split up in 1995, Homme joined the Screaming Trees as a rhythm guitarist, touring but not recording with the band. He and vocalist Mark Lanegan became close friends during this time. Disliking the band's continual disharmony and lack of progression, Homme left the group in just over a year. He founded Gamma Ray, a group more centered to his unique style and tastes, which later became Queens of the Stone Age in 1997. Queens of the Stone Age released their eponymous debut album in 1998. Originally, he had asked a number of singers, including Lanegan, to perform as lead vocalist for Queens of the Stone Age, but ended up singing lead for the first time in his career.

Following their debut, the band released several singles and EPs. With the next album, Rated R, the band used a wider range of instruments to achieve a more relaxed, spacious and psychedelic sound. Despite differences from the band's debut, Rated R became Queens of the Stone Age's first mainstream hit. The next release, 2002's Songs for the Deaf, however, would gain even more buzz from the music community and fans alike. In Songs for the Deaf, Homme continued his filtering of stoner metal and hard rock. The album centers around Homme's memories of uncomfortable rides through the California desert, where he had performed in his days with Kyuss, and where there was little else to do but listen to Spanish radio stations.

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