Queens of the Stone Age

With a revolving cast of motley, gnarled rockers, Josh Homme led QOTSA on a pounding stomp through a heavy haze of blues rock and psychedelia. Built around thundering jams and driving riffs, their sound emanates from their spiritual home at the Rancho de la Luna recording studio in Joshua Tree, California, where the dusty heat of the desert and the narcotic air of punk blends into meaty rock'n'roll. Formed by Homme after the demise of former band Kyuss, early albums Queens Of The Stone Age (1998) and Rated R (2000) quickly earned the tag "stoner rock" as singles Feel Good Hit Of The Summer and The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret became firm fan favourites. Helped by Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan, third album Songs For The Deaf (2002) broke into the mainstream, charting at Number 17 in the US and Number 4 in the UK. The departure of bass player Nick Oliveri in 2004 created a new line-up for the well-received Lullabies To Paralyze (2005) before Era Vulgaris (2007) adopted a darker, more groggy feel dabbling with synths and featuring Strokes front man Julian Casablancas.