Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age in 2017. Left to right: Dean Fertita, Josh Homme, Jon Theodore, and Michael Shuman. Not pictured: Troy Van Leeuwen.
Background information
Also known as	Gamma Ray (1996)
Origin	Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock stoner rock desert rock hard rock alternative metal
Works	Discography songs
Years active	1996 (1996)–present
Labels	Man's Ruin Loosegroove Interscope Matador
Spinoffs	Them Crooked Vultures The Desert Sessions Eagles of Death Metal Mondo Generator
Spinoff of	Kyuss Screaming Trees
Members	Josh Homme Troy Van Leeuwen Michael Shuman Dean Fertita Jon Theodore
Past members	Alfredo Hernández Dave Catching Nick Oliveri Mark Lanegan Gene Trautmann Dave Grohl Joey Castillo Alain Johannes Natasha Shneider
Website	qotsa.com

Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated as QOTSA or QotSA) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1996. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme shortly before he returned to his native Palm Desert, California. 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 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.^[1] 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.