Josh Homme says he's open to playing with legendary stoner rockers Kyuss again

Josh Homme performs with Queens of the Stone Age during Splendour in the Grass on July 22, 2017 in Byron Bay, Australia
(Image credit: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

These days, Josh Homme may be primarily known for leading Queens of the Stone Age, but back in the early ‘90s the electric guitar player was spearheading a new wave of stoner metal with desert-rockers Kyuss.

Since then, his relationship with his ex-band mates has been rocky – in 2012 Homme and former Kyuss bassist Scott Reeder filed a lawsuit against former Kyuss drummer Brandt Bjork and singer John Garcia over their involvement in the band Kyuss Lives!, alleging trademark infringement and consumer fraud.

At the time, Homme and Reeder said in a statement: “To think we went to a meeting in January solely to help them with their request to continue Kyuss Lives! With open arms, we made every attempt to help them continue Kyuss Lives! respectfully. Only to discover while they looked us in the eye, Kyuss Lives! management and band had filed federal documents in 2011 in an attempt to steal the name Kyuss.”

But in a new interview with Kyuss World Radio (via Blabbermouth), Homme considered the idea of a reunion.

"My philosophy has always been, never do a reunion, never do a sequel. It's not what it was; it's what it is,” he said.

“And that's kind of how I've felt. A legacy that involves having been at the epicenter of a scene that got created, it's so fragile; it's like an ice sculpture. And I don't wanna be a blow dryer on that thing.

“That being said, I was in full support of Kyuss Lives! and I would go to the shows and I told them as much, until what Brant and, unfortunately, what John tried to do. And that was terrible.”

But, he continued, “I have thought about this, especially in the last few years, to do something special, and even to make up for that mistake of Brant and, unfortunately, John, to make up for it. [I thought we should] play and give all the money away. Like, play for the fans - cover your costs and make it five bucks. Figure out a way to be, like, this is how the punctuation will end the sentence of this band.

“Because it was never about money - it never was about money. It never was about fame, and when it felt like that was the move they were making, I was so sad."

Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.