Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme has maintained a longtime friendship and working relationship with Dave Grohl, but how deep is their bro-down? Enough so that in a new Los Angeles Times interview, Homme referred to Grohl as “the other love of my life.”
The compliment came during a serious discussion about some of the difficult times both musicians have faced in recent years. Homme revealed earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with cancer in 2022, but just last month he was given the “all clear” from his doctors. The musician also went through a headline-making split and custody case with his ex, The Distillers’ Brody Dalle, over the last few years. Meanwhile, Grohl faced the deaths of his longtime friend and bandmate Taylor Hawkins and his mother Virginia Grohl in 2022. The Foo Fighters frontman addressed both losses in his memoir and on the band’s latest album, But Here We Are.
Within the L.A. Times chat, Homme addressed the bond that he and Grohl share, one that appears to have only strengthened over the events of the last few years.
“Look, Dave’s been the other love of my life. I know everyone’s like, ‘Dave’s your buddy!’ And I agree. But it’s in our dark moments that he and I have gotten close. You don’t have a real relationship with somebody unless you can tell them to shut up at some point. And we have shut each other up in the most loving ways,” says Homme.
“One of the great comforts of these last few years was visiting each other without saying, ‘I’m coming over.’ Just being there when somebody needs it — when they don’t expect it and they didn’t ask for it. I love being that way for Dave, and he’s always been that way for me too. So I feel closer to Dave than ever. We’ve done so much stuff together, and really nobody’s helped my career more than Dave Grohl, in terms of just not shutting the hell up about me.”
When asked about what he’s learned about Grohl as the musician has faced his own difficult times over the past year, Homme responded, “Dave is a tough nut to crack, no matter what anyone thinks they know. He keeps that shit in tight. It’s a small group of people that really know Dave. He’s a guy that toughs it out with a smile on his face, and that smile is very disarming to someone else. They go, ‘Oh, everything’s fine.’ I’ve learned that he’d be really good in a foxhole. Not physically — not at all [laughs]. But emotionally.”
The two musicians have worked together frequently over the years. For a period, Grohl was the drummer in Queens of the Stone Age, and he and Homme later collaborated with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones in Them Crooked Vultures. So the working relationship has evolved over the years as well.
Grohl was also spoken to about their friendship, with the Foo Fighters leader telling the Times that their friendship dates back over 30 years. He says their bond “goes far beyond the music stuff. It’s life stuff. We’ve both been there for each other — moments where everything else is stripped away and all that you’re left with is real vulnerability and fragility.”
He went on to add, “But I’ve never seen the guy give up. He’s just not that type.”
And give up Homme did not, channel some of the difficult times of the past few years into Queens of the Stone Age’s In Times New Roman album. “Sometimes you ask yourself, ‘Who needs my take?’ Especially if you’ve got seven or eight records, like we do,” said Homme. “It’s a question you should ask, but this time it just felt like survival.”
READ MORE: Josh Homme Recalls Taking Shirtless Iggy Pop to a Steakhouse
The band will wrap up their 2023 tour with shows in San Diego and Los Angeles this Friday and Saturday, but you can look for Queens of the Stone Age back on the road in February with more North American dates coming in April. Stay up to date with their touring here.
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