In an unexpected turn of events, Queens Of The Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri and vocalist Mark Lanegan have exited the California-based rock act.
Oliveri and Queens frontman Josh Homme have been friends since high school and played together in revered underground rock combo Kyuss before joining forces in Queens, but their relationship has apparently become irretrievably strained in recent months.
The band’s status was not immediately clear. Representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
As recently as Jan. 30, Oliveri posted on the Web site (http://www.mondogenerator.com) of his side project, Mondo Generator, that he was writing songs for the next Queens album and planned to hit the studio with the band in May or June. The group had been taking a break after a grueling, nearly two-year tour in support of its breakthrough Interscope album, “Songs for the Deaf.”
Ex-Screaming Trees frontman Lanegan has been a fixture in Queens since the tour in support of 2000’s “Rated R.” A message on his official Web site (http://www.marklanegan.com) reads, “Mark is officially no longer playing with Queens Of The Stone Age as to devote more time to his own band. His new album, ‘Bubblegum,’ is finished and will be out in late spring 2004. Cheers to the worlds greatest rock band Queens Of The Stone Age and many thanks to their fans.”
Homme is in the midst of a European tour with his side band the Eagles Of Death Metal, which will release its debut album, “Peace, Love and Death Metal,” March 23 via Ipecac. His ongoing project Desert Sessions will perform live in early May at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., with a lineup that has yet to be announced.