{"id":22644,"date":"2025-10-30T15:38:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/22644\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T15:38:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:38:08","slug":"god-save-the-queens-the-rock-and-the-roll-of-josh-homme-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/22644\/","title":{"rendered":"God Save the Queens: The rock and the roll of Josh Homme"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Homme \u2014 the piratical leader of renegade rock\u2019n\u2019roll titans Queens of the Stone Age<\/a>; a musician deeply embedded into the fabric of modern rock (Dave Grohl, Iggy Pop and Alex Turner<\/a> have all called upon his services), and a frontman whose loose hips and considerable charm once gave him the early nickname Ginger Elvis \u2014 has that most humanising of things: a bit of a cold. He slumps face first onto the sofa of his posh London hotel, a 6ft 5in tree felled at the ankles, and groans. He would quite like a respirator, he jokes, but in the absence of the required tech, we will crack on.<\/p>\n

Bleary-eyed from a 17-hour drive from Antwerp last night \u2014 the previous stop on a short, stripped-back European tour celebrating their recent Alive in the Catacombs film (\u201cWe won\u2019t play many gigs like this. This will not last,\u201d he warns) \u2014 it\u2019s endearing to see the towering frontman of one of the world\u2019s most beloved rock bands in a moment of such normality. But then again, over recent years, Homme has been laid bare \u2014 not just musically (though their performance in the hallowed, gothic Parisian tunnels, as seen in the film, did necessitate a total reworking of their material), but in his life as a whole. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone that\u2019s been through a family separation knows the f***ing terror, but when you\u2019ve done so well that it becomes fodder for people to pretend they know [what\u2019s going on] and there are kids involved,\u201d he begins, referencing his much-publicised split from ex-wife and Distillers singer Brody Dalle, \u201cand then people die around you, and then they keep dying, and then you almost die, those things \u2014 as difficult as they are \u2014 have been gifts to get somewhere. Metamorphosis is painful. <\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think a caterpillar crawls into a chrysalis and thinks, \u2018This is great in here?\u2019 That shit f***ing hurts. But my grandpa was famous for saying life is hard because it\u2019s worth it.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs<\/p>\n

Press handout<\/p>\n

Last year, Homme did almost die. It wasn\u2019t his first brush with mortality; following knee surgery in 2010, he briefly \u201cdied on the operating table\u201d. But this time, he had to look death quite literally in the eye. Having undergone successful treatment for cancer in 2022, Queens\u2019s long-dreamed-of Catacombs performance came just as the frontman was being rushed into hospital due to further health complications. <\/p>\n

Having lobbied to film there for over a decade, he played the show, surrounded by the remains of six million Parisians. The next day, he went under the knife for emergency surgery and was subsequently bedridden for seven months. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a new song they\u2019ve been playing, Easy Street, which contains the cheeky line \u201cJust shut up and f*** me\u201d \u2014 so far, so sexy; so far, so Queens. But, says Homme, \u201cshut up and f*** me is an ethos too, because that\u2019s what the Catacombs were. There were moments where I was saying to myself, \u2018I can\u2019t do this\u2019. But that\u2019s shut up and f*** me; that\u2019s what that moment is. Stop talking. Let\u2019s go. So that\u2019s what you do.\u201d <\/p>\n

He grins, gold tooth glinting, Velo nicotine pouch poking out from his bottom teeth (he\u2019s been trying to cut out the smokes): \u201cPerhaps it could have been said more eloquently\u2026\u201d It\u2019s this duality \u2014 serious and playful, heavy yet flirtatious \u2014 that\u2019s steered Queens of the Stone Age over the past 30 years from desert rock outliers to globally recognised household names; a band big enough to go up against both Beyonc\u00e9 in 2011 and Elton John in 2023 as rivalling Glastonbury stage headliners. Having formed in 1996 following the dissolution of his stoner-rock early project Kyuss, Homme has helmed various iterations of Queens, with members including Grohl and the late, great Mark Lanegan coming and going, with the same ethos throughout: to dance with abandon to the beat of their own drum. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re called Queens of the Stone Age. The first thing out of the gate was: I\u2019m not gonna play to a f***ing bunch of boys,\u201d Homme says of their machismo-shunning outlook within the male-dominated 1990s rock scene. \u201cNo homophobes, no racists, no misogynists. That was always the goal.\u201d <\/p>\n

If Grohl is (or was) known as the nicest man in rock, then Homme might be the genre\u2019s most idiosyncratic. He\u2019s a dyed-in-the-wool outsider; a man who, successful as he is, still rejects the idea of conforming to any notion of mainstream acceptance. \u201cThey call it a following because you follow me, I don\u2019t follow you. That\u2019s a circle \u2014 that\u2019s how toilets are made,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re lucky enough and you work hard enough that this gets to be your job, no turning around is necessary. It should just be: Machete. Jungle. Face forward. Go.\u201d But he\u2019s also totally devoid of any old-school rock star posturing. Go on to the band\u2019s Instagram and you\u2019ll find a recent video of Homme dancing around his dressing room to Justin Timberlake\u2019s SexyBack. \u201cSomeone the other day said to me, \u2018You are a very silly man,\u2019\u201d he says, adopting a wizened old German accent. \u201cAnd I just said, \u2018Yes, that is correct.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\"FRANCE-MUSIC-FESTIVAL\"<\/p>\n

Josh Homme performs with Queens of the Stone Age on stage at the Rock en Seine music festival in Saint-Cloud on August 24, 2025<\/p>\n

AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Homme is, he readily admits, \u201ca complex character\u201d. \u201cMy complexities have gotten me into trouble many times, and rightfully so, and the mob takes everything,\u201d he notes. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve realised \u2014 especially now that I don\u2019t do drugs all the time \u2014 that I\u2019m an emotional roller coaster<\/p>\n

In 2017, he issued an apology after appearing to kick the camera out of a photographer\u2019s hand. \u201cI\u2019m gonna have to figure out some stuff, I think. Cos rock\u2019n\u2019roll is a wonderful thing. It\u2019s supposed to save and help people, not mess them up,\u201d he said following the incident. Today, Homme is enjoying the new challenge of the Catacombs tour and the vulnerability of his current crooner era; of playing these songs without the amps turned up to 11 and tapping into a different part of himself. \u201cI\u2019ve realised \u2014 especially now that I don\u2019t do drugs all the time \u2014 that I\u2019m an emotional roller coaster,\u201d he says. \u201cIn order to walk up there and [be the frontman], it\u2019s like, if your personality is a home then I have to turn off all the other lights in the house and just leave the attic light on. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if I stay in the attic and play in the attic too long, I start to degenerate and lose my mind. So this is coming at a good time because I needed the Catacombs, and I needed this tour because I feel scared to go on stage again. There\u2019s a lot of silence, and silence is the loudest that quiet can ever get, so you have to be willing to hang onto it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now \u2014 despite the sniffles \u2014 Homme says he\u2019s \u201cphysically never been better in [his] life\u201d. The day after we speak, Queens of the Stone Age will bring their show to the Royal Albert Hall \u2014 the band\u2019s first time in the iconic building, but Homme\u2019s third following career-peak dates with Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup alongside Grohl and Led Zeppelin\u2019s John Paul Jones, and as part of Iggy Pop\u2019s band for his acclaimed Post Pop Depression LP. \u201cFor Vultures, we were doing the Daltrey children\u2019s benefit [Teenage Cancer Trust], so it wasn\u2019t our own show,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI remember thinking, especially at that time in my life, \u2018Well this is the only way I\u2019m ever gonna get in the door here.\u2019 I\u2019ve had the \u2018I\u2019ll probably get thrown out\u2019 mentality for too long, which I\u2019ve really tried to let go of because it doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifteen years on, and not only has Homme propelled Queens through the door, he\u2019s sat them at the top table. The frontman remains a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of rock star: magnetic, funny, eloquent, ridiculously cool. But these days, he\u2019s trying to be a more steady guy too. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom 13 \u2018til 46, I was raised to shut up and [get on with it], which is frankly quite English,\u201d he notes. \u201cNow all that has gone. I\u2019m in my fifties, Elvis was dead a long time before that\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n

For his ginger compadre, however, the quest continues. \u201cI don\u2019t wanna have a bucket list,\u201d Homme smiles, glint in his eye: \u201cI wanna have an empty bucket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connie Francis \u2013 You Alone<\/p>\n

The intro with the descending strings is just so beautiful.<\/p>\n

Viagra Boys \u2013 Down In the Basement<\/p>\n

Sebastian is at his best when he\u2019s terrified of looking in the mirror.<\/p>\n

Goldfrapp \u2013 Strict Machine<\/p>\n

I like to dance to Goldfrapp before I go play a show. <\/p>\n