Representative Albums: "Heart On", "Death by Sexy", "Peace Love Death Metal
Representative Songs: "Solid Gold", "I Only Want You", "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)
Biography
It seems that with each change of season, a member of Queens of the Stone Age is issuing a new album by one of their many side projects, as early 2004 saw the release of the debut full-length by the Eagles of Death Metal, Peace, Love & Death Metal. The group's chief contributors include QOTSA main man Josh Homme (who goes by the alias of Carlo Von Sexron, and handles drums, rather than his usual guitar/vocal duties), and Jesse Hughes (vocals, guitar). Both hail from Palm Desert, California, and have been friends since Hughes' family moved to the aforementioned arid location in 1979. The pair bonded as teenagers while playing together on the same local soccer team, but went in separate career paths after graduation -- Homme went on to form the underappreciated Kyuss, before launching Queens of the Stone Age, while Hughes attended the University of South Carolina, and became a journalist. Homme later re-entered the picture, and convinced his old friend (who was down in the dumps at the time over a divorce) to start jamming on music. The Eagles of Death Metal were formed soon after, as the group debuted with a few tracks on Volumes 3-4 of Homme's ongoing Desert Sessions series in 1998. Despite their misleading name, the group's sound was more akin to classic garage rock, with some elements of the Rolling Stones added in for good measure. But the new group was put on the back burner while Homme got Queens of the Stone Age off the ground (interestingly enough, with another high school friend of both his and Hughes, bassist Nick Oliveri). When QOTSA quickly became one of the world's most talked about hard rock bands (due to such exceptional releases as 1998's Queens of the Stone Age, 2000s R, and 2002's Songs for the Deaf), Homme sought to re-launch the Eagles of Death Metal as more than just a one-off project. Reconvening in 2003, the duo recorded three day's worth of material (almost all of the songs being taped on the very first take). A buzz surrounding the group began amongst the QOTSA faithful when Homme wore an Eagles of Death Metal t-shirt throughout QOTSA's Lollapalooza road jaunt that summer, while a sneak preview track, "I Only Want You," was mysteriously leaked via mp3 among fans online. With QOTSA taking a breather, Homme and Hughes (with guitarist Timmy VanHamel in tow) then set out on the Eagles' very first tour, as they opened up for Placebo during late November/early December. The group's highly anticipated debut full-length, Peace, Love & Death Metal finally surfaced in March of 2004 (after several proposed release dates came and went) -- issued via Homme's own Rekords Rekords label, and AntAcidAudio (a sister label of Ipecac Records, run by Mike Patton). The group's first European tour followed shortly thereafter, opening for the Distillers. Additionally, Hughes supposedly recorded a solo album, Fabulous Weapons, a year before the recording of Peace, Love & Death Metal. The recording was ultimately shelved, but as reported on the Eagles of Death Metal's website, it may surface as a limited release. Hughes and Homme reconvened in fall 2005 to make the second Eagles of Death Metal album; joined by Jack Black, Brody Dalle, Mark Lanegan and QOTSA's Joey Castillo, they recorded Death by Sexy in eight days. After a brief U.K. tour late that year, the Eagles of Death Metal toured with the Strokes in spring 2006, leading up to Death by Sexy's release. 2008's Heart On was more polished but still scuzzy. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
Eagles of Death Metal are an American garage rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite the name, Eagles of Death Metal is not a death metal band. Hughes said that a friend was trying to introduce Josh Homme to the death metal genre. When he played Wind of Change by the German band Scorpions and made a claim that the song was death metal, Homme called them "The Eagles of death metal". After hearing this phrase, he wondered what a cross between the Eagles and a death metal band would sound like.[1] In a 2003 interview Homme described the sound of the band as a combination of "bluegrass slide guitar mixed with stripper drum beats and Canned Heat vocals." Jesse Hughes is known and loved by fans for his enthusiastic and charismatic interaction with audiences at live performances.[2][3]
Eagles of Death Metal formed in Palm Desert, California in 1998 and first appeared on Josh Homme's The Desert SessionsVolumes 3 & 4, released that year. Over the next few years, Homme became distracted from the band due to the success of Queens of the Stone Age. However, in an October 2008 interview, he reaffirmed his commitment to the band saying, "This isn't a side project for me. I'm in two bands. I have musical schizophrenia, and this is one of those personalities[4].
The first song on the album, "I Only Want You," was also used on the soundtrack for the PS2 game Gran Turismo 4. Globe Shoes, a manufacturer of skateboard shoes, has featured the song in the montage section of episode 1 in their new series of skate films entitled, United By Fate. Recently, the track "Chase the Devil" from the album Death by Sexy was included in the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Project 8. Not only that, the track "Don't Speak (I Came to Make a Bang!)" was part of the soundtrack for Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Carbon. Recently, "Cherry Cola" was used in a Microsoft Zune commercial, and "Don't Speak" was featured in Epic Movie, where the band is seen playing it live; in addition, the song was used in a Guy Ritchie-directed Nike ad ahead of UEFA Euro 2008. The band returned on April 11, 2006 with their second effort Death by Sexy. During the first half of 2006 they toured in support of The Strokes and headlined their own U.S. tour with openers The Giraffes followed by dates opening for Peaches and performed with Joan Jett. In the fall of 2006 the band had an opening support slot with Guns N' Roses. During the first concert with Guns N' Roses, in Cleveland, Ohio on November 24, 2006, the band was not well received by the crowd at all. When Axl Rose came out to perform, he asked the crowd if they enjoyed "the Pigeons of Shit Metal," and announced that the show would be their last with Guns N' Roses. Shortly thereafter the band released a statement regarding the incident:
They took further stabs at Guns N' Roses, claiming that there was aggravation between Axl Rose and Tommy Stinson (the bassist of GN'R). Later they also claimed that Rose had invited the band back for the rest of their scheduled dates as support act.[6] The band also received full payment for the entire tour despite playing only a single show with the band. At the band's November 18, 2008 show at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club, Jesse Hughes unveiled to the audience a "Pigeons of Shit Metal" tattoo on his left forearm that he acquired earlier in the day by artist Dave Waugh at Jinx Proof Tattoos in the Georgetown area of DC.
On October 21, 2008, ahead of their third album release, the Eagles of Death Metal performed a live concert at the Hollywood & Highland Virgin Megastore in Los Angeles for the launch of the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles. The new single from the third album "Wannabe in L.A." is also in the game Midnight Club: Los Angeles.[7] The song "Wannabe in L.A" also features in the music rhythm game Guitar Hero 5.
Their third album titled Heart On was released on October 28, 2008 (November 4, 2008 in Canada) and was accompanied by a North American tour. On February 4, 2009, Eagles of Death Metal performed on a live webcast for Fuel.tv as part of their Heart On tour.
In 2009 the Eagles of Death Metal performed as a warm up act on tour with Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys.
Members
Members
Jesse Hughes AKA: The Devil / Boots Electric (vocals, guitar, percussion)
Josh Homme AKA: Carlo Von Sexron / Baby Duck (drums, percussion, guitar, bass, keys, vocals)
Current Live members
Jesse Hughes AKA: The Devil / Boots Electric (guitar, vocals)
