Journalist Laura Snapes recently criticized Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme’s ongoing image rehabilitation in an article published by The Guardian. The piece highlights the contrast between the band’s promotional campaign for their new album, Perfecth, and past allegations of domestic abuse and violence against Homme.
Snapes addressed the band’s promotional efforts, specifically pointing out a novelty complaints hotline set up for fans, and contrasted it with Homme’s past legal and personal controversies.
“As part of the promo for Queens of the Stone Age’s new album Perfecth, the band has set up a novelty complaints hotline for fans to call,” Snapes wrote. “‘No b*tching too big, no whiny too tiny,’ it promises. I’ll bite: how about the fact that frontman Josh Homme’s ex-wife Brody Dalle testified in court that he head-butted her so hard that she ‘saw stars’ and said he had fantasised about killing her? Or that he kicked a female photographer in the face? It’s certainly not what anyone’s talking about as part of Homme’s friendly neighbourhood rock star image rehabilitation: duetting on Shania Twain’s new album, taking the couch on Celebrity Gogglebox, teatime BBC 6 Music interviews.”
She then detailed the complex legal history and mutual allegations between Homme and his ex-wife, Brody Dalle.
“Homme and Dalle clearly had a complicated relationship: he allegedly tried to throw her boyfriend off a balcony; he claims that she was violent towards him; both have taken out restraining orders against one another; Homme has full custody of their kids after Dalle’s boyfriend was found to have forged her signature on an application for a restraining order,” Snapes continued.
Snapes also recalled specific incidents of physical violence, including a documented altercation with a photographer.
“There is clear footage of him brutally kicking the camera of photographer Chelsea Lauren back into her face, which he acknowledged in an apology video, and court testimony from Dalle alleging that a drunk Homme told her ‘I want to f*cking strangle you right now’ on one occasion, and head-butted her on another,” she added.
Finally, Snapes reflected on how the music industry handles allegations of misconduct, suggesting that rock music culture often shields artists from accountability.
“The notion of so-called rock’n’roll behaviour, many have theorised, was partly why music never had much of a ‘MeToo moment,’ that hopeless relic of a phrase,” Snapes concluded. “When bad behaviour isn’t just accepted but venerated, real wrongdoing can be brushed under the same whisky-stained rug. Blind eyes are turned, offenders are remade as outlaws, myths are upheld, party lines toed: ‘It’s so safe to play along / Little soldiers in a row,’ as Homme sang in Go With the Flow. The jokey complaints hotline might be the most honest part of QOTSA’s return: a grim reflection of the fact that nobody is taking this shit seriously any more.”
This critique comes as Queens of the Stone Age continues to promote their upcoming album.
