(Credits: Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Tue 23 September 2025 14:00, UK
Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme is a genius, but not a very typical one at all.
The fact that a statement like that would make ‘The Ginger Elvis’ cringe himself inside out is part of what gives him the strange, unshakeable reputation that he has. On one hand, he’s an icon of respectable rock ‘n’ roll. Someone who didn’t just make a record with the sensible one out of Led Zeppelin, bassist John Paul Jones, but formed a whole-ass band with him. One that included Dave Grohl at the prime of his ‘Saint Dave’ reputation on the drums to boot.
However, he’s also a counter-culture rebel of insouciant, punk-rock coolness. Someone who, in the words of one of his best songs, is liable to talk about how he’ll “blow [his] load over the status quo” and people still believe him. His is a level of rock ‘n’ roll cred that allows him to have his cake and eat it too. Be a member of the rock establishment who plays the Grammys with Nine Inch Nails and Lindsay Buckingham, but also rolls his eyes at it so you know he’s still down to earth.
So, how do you walk that specific tightrope, because they’re fundamentally contradictory beliefs. You can’t believe in the sacred, immutable art of rock ‘n’ roll while also believing it’s all a bit of a meaningless doss. Except, you absolutely can, and the attitude of Josh Homme is probably the best way of explaining the true essence of the genre.
Who did Josh Homme call “the essence of rock ‘n’ roll”?
In a 2008 interview, Homme was asked what he considered “the essence of rock ‘n’ roll”.
One hell of a question that would stump even the most knowledgeable of rock stars, but not him. The man seems to know his onions too, because the first words out of his mouth are “It’s not what you play, it’s how you play it”. This may sound like fighting words coming from someone who’s buddy-buddy with members of Led Zeppelin, but he doubles down on this spirit.
He goes on to say, “Anyone can practise and be Satriani eventually, y’know? But who can play one note and captivate everybody? Can you take one note and make it sound like you’re crying? Can you take one note and uplift everybody?” No matter how technically gifted you may be, that is still the God’s honest truth, isn’t it? The best guitarists, the best musicians in rock ‘n’ roll are the ones who can embody both.
However, even the likes of Jimmy Page are players whose technical skills are second to the emotions they can conjure. A pretty distant second in Page’s case, who could be infamously sloppy, especially live, but that’s the whole point in Homme’s point of view. He puts it best at the end of the interview, where he says that pure rock ‘n’ roll can “explain emotions where words fail”.
That’s not just rock ‘n’ roll you’re describing there, Josh, that’s art as a whole.
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