Last year, Queens of the Stone Age were forced to cancel the remainder of their tour due to Josh Homme needing “emergency surgery” – the details for which Homme has seemingly chosen not to disclose.
Now, in a new interview with Consequence, the frontman revealed that he was battling these health issues while he and the band were filming their recently released live set inside the Paris Catacombs. Despite being in intense pain, Homme decided to push through and complete the recording.
“I was in a very difficult physical spot, and I’m really thankful that I was, actually,” Homme told the publication. “I couldn’t think about anything else but where we were. It’s better that I was unwell, because I think if I was well, we would’ve maybe been more ‘California’ about it and thought ‘Man, it’s so cool to be here…’ And something about that kind of sucks.”
“Being there was a great difficulty and required overcoming a lot just to walk down the steps. So it felt like we’d earned the right to be there. That felt necessary somehow,” he said.
“That’s why I say that place dominated so hard. We’re actually not that important. I know we’re playing it, but this gave us a chance to strip everything down to barebones – to take a cue from the Catacombs – and reveal what these songs are. It was a desperate attempt to play something nice for an audience that’s been stuck in a place for hundreds of years.”
Less than a day after they wrapped up filming, Homme returned to the US for emergency surgery. “I performed in the Catacombs, and within about 20 hours I was being sedated and put under,” he explained, adding that the procedure required a lengthy recovery process.
“Then I spent the next seven months in bed. I had a lot of time to think, you know? I was told I was gonna spend 18 months, two years there, so I was not excited.”
This is not the first major health issue that Homme has dealt with in recent years. In 2023, the frontman revealed that he had been battling cancer and that he had thankfully received the “all clear.”
