Artist

Queens of the Stone Age

Palm Desert, United States • Formed 1996

Queens of the Stone Age is a music group from Palm Desert, United States, active since 1996. Their discography on Gatefold includes 22 records.

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Albums tracked

924

In collections

1996

Since

Biography

Queens of the Stone Age (abbreviated QOTSA or QotSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme following the breakup of his previous band Kyuss. Although originally associated with Seattle due to early activity there, the project is most closely linked to the Palm Desert, California rock scene. Homme has remained the only constant member through numerous lineup changes. Since 2013, the core lineup has consisted of Homme

The Arc of Queens of the Stone Age

The pivots — what forced Queens of the Stone Age to reinvent.

The Robot Rock Blueprint
After Kyuss imploded, Homme spent time as a touring guitarist for the Screaming Trees, which tightened his sense of song structure and melody. He moved away from the sprawling jams of the Palm Desert scene to focus on 'The Queens' Style'—down-tuned guitars played through small, overdriven bass amps to get that choked, percussive thud. The 1998 debut was almost a solo record with Alfredo Hernández on drums, stripping away the psych-rock fluff for something mechanical and lean.
The Three-Headed Beast
Bringing Nick Oliveri back into the fold for Rated R changed the chemistry from a solo project to a volatile gang. This era leaned into the contrast between Homme’s falsetto, Oliveri’s throat-shredding punk outbursts, and Mark Lanegan’s haunting baritone. It reached a fever pitch when Dave Grohl sat behind the kit for Songs for the Deaf, providing the massive, driving pocket that finally pushed their weird desert art into the mainstream.
The Precision Polish
Following Oliveri’s firing, the band shifted toward a more jagged, experimental precision on Era Vulgaris, ditching the open-air desert feel for the claustrophobia of a city alley. They started messing with hollow-body guitars and weird filtering, moving further away from 'stoner rock' into a twitchy, electronic-influenced rock. This culminated in the collaboration with Mark Ronson for Villains, where the focus shifted entirely to danceable grooves and tight, dry production that polarized the old-guard fans.

Influences

The Stooges — Homme has repeatedly cited the Fun House-era lineup as the ultimate goal for a live band. You hear it in the confrontational energy of the early 2000s sets and the raw, unhinged saxophone skronk they occasionally drag into the studio.
Black Flag — The band covered 'Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie' and shared the SST Records lineage through the Greg Ginn school of guitar dissonance. The influence is all over the down-stroked, relentless rhythm work that defines their heavier mid-tempo tracks.
ZZ Top — Billy Gibbons actually played on Lullabies to Paralyze after Homme obsessively chased his 'brown sound' and syncopated shuffle. That Texas grease is the secret ingredient in the Queens' swing, preventing the 'robot rock' from becoming too stiff.
Can — The band’s obsession with repetitive, motorik rhythms comes directly from the Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit playbook. It’s most obvious on tracks like 'You Can't Quit Me Baby,' where the groove stays static while the textures around it slowly rot.
The Cramps — The B-movie aesthetic and the sleazy, psychobilly guitar twang are baked into the band's DNA. Homme's vocal delivery often mimics Lux Interior’s blend of Elvis-style crooning and predatory whispers.