Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme: New Album Guest Lineup Not Intended to ‘Dry-Hump’ Reputations

Although Queens of the Stone Age had their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart when their '...Like Clockwork' album came out earlier this month, don't expect the critically acclaimed outfit to cop a rock star attitude with their fans. They may have welcomed the contributions of Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor, and Sir Elton John, but QOTSA frontman Josh Homme says in a recent Radio.com said the all-star affair is not a gimmick and comes from a very personal place.

After having a near death experience following a knee surgery, Homme collected a group of his friends to collaborate with the band on the album. "There comes a time when you need your friends, and so you call them," said Homme, who also had former QOTSA drummer Dave Grohl lend support on several tracks. "You don't really know somebody until everything around you goes wrong. So what was great was to realize in these tougher moments who is really there."

The frontman says that he never really thought about how it may look from the outside as the players on the album are friends. He adds, "We forget that for you it's Dave Grohl, Nick Oliveri and Alex Turner, but for us it's just Dave, Nick and Alex." Homme also added that, in the end, it's still pure Queens of the Stone Age material, and that the band were not trying to "dry-hump" someone's reputation. "At the end of the day, it's gotta sound like Queens of the Stone Age," he added. "It's not 'America's Got Talent' or something, which is cool TV but not good music."

During its first week of release '...Like Clockwork' sold 91,000 copies, and it was also the first time indie label Matador released a number one record. It's the band's sixth studio album, and their first effort since 2007's 'Era Vulgaris.'