Queens Of The Stone Age vocalist/guitarist Josh Homme has opened up on the turbulent time period that led to the group’s forthcoming eighth studio album, “…In Times New Roman“. In addition to an ugly divorce and ensuing custody battle over his children that has persisted since 2019, Homme has also revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and has since underwent successful surgery to treat it.
He commented briefly of that in a newly published interview with Revolver:
“I never say it can’t get any worse. I never say that, and I wouldn’t advise it. But I do say it can get better. Cancer is just the cherry on top of an interesting time period, you know? I’m extremely thankful that I’ll get through this, and I’ll look back at this as something that’s fucked up — but will have made me better. I’m cool with that. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do. And there’s a lot of people I want to do that with.”
Along with the above, Homme also spoke of mourning his friends Rio Hackford, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and longtime associate Mark Lanegan, all of whom passed amid the past 4 years. Homme has since immortalized that trio with new tattoos of their nicknames.
Speaking of his state of mind through that period, which connects to the first single from “…In Times New Roman“, “Emotion Sickness“, Homme offered:
“I definitely had a serious case of emotion sickness. There were times I almost didn’t make it. It’s OK for me to ruminate on that. It’s not OK to stay there, feel too sorry for myself. This has been the darkest four years of my life. But that’s OK, too. In the heartaches, my mistakes, these deaths and my own physical things I’m dealing with — even though all that has occurred and smashed my old life to pieces, those pieces I’ve been able to build into a ship that’s about to launch. I will float into my new life from all those pieces.”
Mentioned later in the interview is a new approach to touring being undertaken by Homme. He admitted that the band won’t be hitting the road on this album cycle as hard as they have in the past, offering, “Things have changed a little bit for me. However long I go away, I must come back for at least that length of time.”
You can find more from the band over at Revolver. “…In Times New Roman” will be out this Friday, June 16th.
06/17 Landgraaf, NET – Pinkpop Festival
06/18 Sheessel, GER – Hurricane Festival
06/20 Halifax, UK – The Piece Hall (feat. Coach Party)
06/22 Margate, UK – Dreamland (feat. Coach Party)
06/23 Cardiff, UK – Cardiff Castle (feat. Coach Party)
06/28 Roskilde, DEN – Roskilde Festival
06/30 Gdynia, POL – Open’er Festival
07/02 Werchter, BEL – Rock Werchter
07/04 Lyon, FRA – Les Nuits de Fourviere
07/05 Albi, FRA – Festival Pause Guitare
07/07 Madrid, SPA – Mad Cool Festival
07/08 Lisbon, POR – NOS Alive
08/12 New York, NY – Forest Hills Stadium (feat. Phantogram & The Armed)
09/09 Sao Paulo, BRA – The Town
09/24 Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life
10/08 Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival
With Phantogram & The Armed:
08/03 Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
08/04 Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
08/05 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE Outdoors
08/07 Bridgeport, CT – Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
08/08 Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann
08/09 Washington, DC – The Anthem
08/11 Portland, ME – Cross Insurance Arena
08/12 Queens, NY – Forest Hills Stadium
08/15 Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
08/16 Asheville, NC – Rabbit Rabbit
08/18 Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
08/19 Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
With Viagra Boys & Jehnny Beth:
09/17 Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
09/19 Omaha, NE – Steelhouse
09/20 Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
09/22 Indianapolis, IN – TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
09/23 St. Louis, MO – Saint Louis Music Park
09/26 Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
09/27 Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion
09/29 Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
09/30 Salt Lake City, UT – The Great Saltair
10/02 Portland, OR – Veterans Memorial Coliseum
10/03 Vancouver, BC – Pacific Coliseum
10/04 Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
10/06 San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
