Josh Homme on Metal: The Band He Never Bothered Listening To

As the frontman and primary songwriter of Queens of the Stone Age, Josh Homme has become an influential figure in the stoner rock and alternative music scenes. Fusing elements of desert rock, grunge, and even touches of metal into his music, he has never allowed his projects to fit neatly into one genre. This versatility has helped his bands remain dynamic and boundary-pushing with each new release.

Before achieving mainstream success with QOTSA through landmark albums like Rated R and Songs for the Deaf, Homme was a key member of Kyuss, a pioneering stoner rock band from Palm Desert, California. Kyuss, which featured John Garcia on vocals along with future QOTSA members Nick Oliveri and Alfredo Hernández, was known for its heavy psychedelic sound and slow, sludgy riffs—far heavier than anything Homme would later create with his other projects, including Them Crooked Vultures and Eagles of Death Metal.

With albums like Welcome to Sky Valley and Blues for the Red Sun, Kyuss became a cult favorite and a major influence on later heavy bands like Sleep and Electric Wizard. Their raw, thunderous sound often invited comparisons to 1970s metal pioneers Black Sabbath. Given the similarities in tone and aggression, many assumed that Sabbath had been a direct influence on Homme’s songwriting. However, in a surprising revelation, Homme has admitted that he never actually listened to metal.

In a 2003 interview with Spin, Homme dismissed the idea that Black Sabbath played a significant role in shaping his music. “I never really listened to metal,” he confessed. “When I was in Kyuss, people assumed we were into Black Sabbath, but I hadn’t really heard those bands.” Instead of drawing inspiration from classic metal, Homme’s approach to guitar playing stemmed from a very different musical background—one rooted in punk rock.

“I followed the punk-rock-guilt rules—you can’t listen to anything else,” he explained. “I wanted to be able to claim that I’d never heard the music that supposedly influenced me.” Rather than taking cues from heavy metal forefathers, Homme found inspiration in bands like Black Flag, The Stooges, and The Descendents. These punk influences led to his distinctively raw and powerful guitar style, which was then amplified and distorted beyond what his punk predecessors had done.

Despite this punk-driven foundation, Kyuss ultimately found themselves grouped alongside metal bands and became an essential part of the alternative metal movement in the 1990s. Whether intentional or not, their music breathed new life into the genre and helped pave the way for future heavy acts. Homme may not have considered himself a metalhead, but his work with Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age undeniably left a lasting mark on the heavier side of rock music.