QotSA’s Josh Homme ‘spent the next seven months in bed’ following 2024 surgery

Queens of the Stone Age canceled many of their 2024 tour dates due to frontman Josh Homme undergoing unspecified emergency surgery. A year later, Homme hasn’t detailed exactly what was going on that required such an operation, but he does tell Consequence in a new interview about his lengthy recovery process.

“I spent the next seven months in bed,” Homme says. “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.”

Homme underwent the surgery just after recording the new Queens concert film, Alive in the Catacombs, in the famed Paris Catacombs. 

“I performed in the Catacombs, and within about 20 hours I was being sedated and put under,” Homme says.

Being in a place where millions of human remains are held will likely already put death front of mind, and that was amplified by Homme’s health condition.

“I was in a very difficult physical spot, and I’m really thankful that I was, actually,” Homme tells Consequence. “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.”

Homme didn’t ended up taking 18 months to recover and was back onstage in December 2024. Queens released Alive in the Catacombs in June and will launch their U.S. Catacombs tour in October.

Queens of the Stone Age canceled many of their 2024 tour dates due to frontman Josh Homme undergoing unspecified emergency surgery. A year later, Homme hasn’t detailed exactly what was going on that required such an operation, but he does tell Consequence in a new interview about his lengthy recovery process.

“I spent the next seven months in bed,” Homme says. “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.”

Homme underwent the surgery just after recording the new Queens concert film, Alive in the Catacombs, in the famed Paris Catacombs. 

“I performed in the Catacombs, and within about 20 hours I was being sedated and put under,” Homme says.

Being in a place where millions of human remains are held will likely already put death front of mind, and that was amplified by Homme’s health condition.

“I was in a very difficult physical spot, and I’m really thankful that I was, actually,” Homme tells Consequence. “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.”

Homme didn’t ended up taking 18 months to recover and was back onstage in December 2024. Queens released Alive in the Catacombs in June and will launch their U.S. Catacombs tour in October.