Rocker Josh Homme pours private pain into new Queens of the Stone Age record

Josh Homme has revealed how he channelled the pain of his divorce, which was like a ‘howling storm’, losing loved ones and a cancer scare on new Queens of the Stone album.

Rock god Josh Homme has had a rough four years, the darkest of his life.

His marriage to Australian punk rocker Brody Dalle fractured, in public, with a Los Angeles court granting him sole custody of their three children in March.

Too many loved ones died all too soon; former bandmate Mark Lanegan and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins among them.

He also had surgery for an unspecified cancer.

As the frontman of rock underdogs Queens of the Stone Age wrestled with what really mattered in his life, Homme didn’t know if he was done with music. But for a long time, he had nothing to sing about.

Queens of the Stone Age, featuring Josh Homme, are back with In Times New Roman record. Picture: Supplied.

Once the dust had settled on his miseries, and after some therapy, the band’s creative controller managed to get back in the ring with his bandmates – guitarist-keyboardists Troy Van Leeuwen and Dean Fertita, bassist Michael Shuman and drummer Jon Theodore.

The result of his studio catharsis is the Queens’ record In Times New Roman …, an album whose lyrical theme is best described by its first single, titled Emotion Sickness.

“I was in the centre of a lot of difficulties and a lot of situations that were more important (than making music) to me and deserved the attention first,” Homme says from his home in Malibu.

“Yeah, family, and I’ve had a lot of people pass away – that happens to everybody and we’re all gonna die – but when it’s close … you know.

“And as I’ve gotten older, there are situations where you ask yourself ‘How do I do this?” and in those moments I think I would really like to do this right, to represent my family and myself, my grandparents and my parents and my kids, and I don’t want to f … this up.

Homme took time out from music to care for his family and himself after a cancer scare. Picture: Getty

“There’s thousands of ways to blow it … but now I think to myself I don’t need to worry about the mistakes, I need to show the little people in my house how to get up when everything’s f … ed and represent yourself.

“I had nothing to sing about until there was a momentary reprieve from the howling storm.”

There are some lyrical cues to his state of mind and soul post his divorce from Dalle in 2019, and the ensuing years-long custody battle.

His only public statement about the matter came in March via a lengthy social media post from his team confirming he was the children’s sole legal guardian until “a custody hearing in the fall (spring in Australia) of 2023, at which point a more permanent solution will be determined by the Los Angeles Family Court.”

The statement also revealed the court had issued a restraining order against Dalle for the benefit of Homme, their three children and his parents Michael and Irene.

“The goal of the Los Angeles Family Court System and Joshua Homme’s sincere hope is that the conclusion of this matter will result in the ability for both Homme and Dalle to co-parent their children peacefully,” the statement concluded.

Homme says the new album is about “acceptance”.

“Having learned enough over the last several years. I’d hate to be someone who is hanging on too tightly to something which is already gone. So I think acceptance is the key to this (record),” he said.

Over the 27 years of their existence, Queens of the Stone Age have neither been as famous nor popular in the mainstream as Homme’s stadium-filling rock mates including the Foo Fighters – Dave Grohl has recorded and toured with the band – and Elton John.

He prefers his underdog status. After the nightmare of his recent challenges, he has no aspirations for where In Times New Roman … lands in terms of chart positions or its chances for going viral on TikTok. He’s just glad he made it.

As the band muscles up to own stages throughout the European summer tour season with their clutch of new songs, including the brilliantly titled Carnavoyeur and Obscenery, Homme reveals the band’s outlier status and rock’n’roll bravado has, in fact, proven lucrative over the years.

They will take the gigs everyone else refuses, including performing in the same timeslot up against his mate Elton John, who is headlining the final night of this year’s Glastonbury festival next weekend.

“The fact of the matter is, previously when Beyoncé was at Glastonbury (in 2011), no one would take the slot, and so they offered us a little extra dosh to play against her and I was like ‘I’ll do it! And when we stop playing, I can listen to Beyonce,’” he said.

“And basically the same thing happened again. So we get to play the gig and listen to Elton John between songs.”

Queens of the Stone Age will play at the Glastonbury festival next week. Picture: Supplied.

His mum has suggested he find out when John is playing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in his set and perform a QOTSA version at the same time. Homme jokes that his mum is “embarrassing me.”

He plans on making their Australian tour in early 2024 a family vacation.

“It’ll probably be that time when people come to Australia, that type of season,” he said.

“You know I love coming there so much and I still feel like it’s my home away from home, I’ve spent so much time there, so I want to bring my family. It’s an easy sell for us.”

In Times New Roman … is out now.

Originally published as Rocker Josh Homme pours private pain into new Queens of the Stone Age record