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The hardest part about trying to explain Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) to someone who doesn't know much about them is attempting to describe the type of music they play. It would be too simple to label the band as a stoner rock group, although that is where the public seems to enjoy placing them. In 1997, after his band Kyuss broke up, Joshua Homme set out to form a new group. It was originally called Gamma Ray, but after a German metal band with the same name threatened to sue Josh over it, he changed the name to Queens of the Stone Age. Why such a seemingly odd name? Former QOTSA bassist Nick Oliveri gave the following answer in 2000. "When we were making a record in 1992, under the band Kyuss, our producer Chris Goss, he would joke and say 'You guys are like the Queens of the Stone Age'". Also in 2000, Josh Homme explained why they are not the Kings of the Stone Age. "Kings would be too macho. The Kings of the Stone Age wear armor and have axes and wrestle. The Queens of the Stone Age hang out with the Kings of the Stone Age's girlfriends, when they wrestle. And also, it was also just a name given to us by Chris Goss. He gave us the name Queens of the Stone Age. Rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls. That way, everyone is happy and it's more of a party. Kings of the Stone Age, is too lopsided."
The first studio album, released in 1998, featured Josh Homme and drummer Alfredo Hernandez, along with several other collaborators. The self-titled release did not gain much mainstream success, but established the new band's unique sound and is the favorite QOTSA album of many of the band's biggest fans. Soon after the album was recorded (but before its release), bassist Nick Oliveri joined the band and in 2000 the group returned to the studio to write their second album, Rated R. Again, QOTSA saw only minor commercial success with this album, although it received very positive reviews from music critics around the world. Rated R also saw the first appearance by vocalist Mark Lanegan, who remained a fixture in the band for several years.
2003 was the year everything changed for QOTSA. Dave Grohl, formerly of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters joined the band as their drummer and together with Homme, Oliveri and Lanegan they produced the album which placed the Queens on the mainstream map. Songs for the Deaf was released in the Fall of 2002 and within months it was one of the most popular rock albums in the world. "No One Knows" was the groups first massive hit single and was soon followed by "Go With the Flow", which also became very successful on the radio and MTV. Grohl toured with the band to support the album, but soon went back to continue working with the Foo Fighters...
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