Josh Homme reveals his weirdest rider request
As a member of one of the world’s biggest rock bands, Queens of the Stone Age, singer Josh Homme has taken full advantage of this position which allows him to secure strangely specific items on his rider.
Many musical acts opt for a modest rider, usually consisting of beer, water and various supermarket snacks. Yet, when headlining a major festival, it’s possible to push the requests to the limit with nothing deemed too niche or unnecessary. However, rather than pick out the most extravagantly expensive items imaginable to have on his rider, Homme’s weird choices are fairly cheap, but may prove difficult to buy from a local store on short notice.
In comparison to other stars, Homme’s rider is relatively straightforward. Notably, in 2002, Paul McCartney is said to have asked for all the lamps in the backstage area to be halogen with a dimmer switch.
He also demanded that all items were made out of only animal-free material, and no trace of animal prints or skin to feature on the furniture. The former Beatle even wanted the whole place to be dry-cleaned a day before his arrival.
During a new appearance on the Dish podcast, hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Homme explained his approach to riders, jokingly telling the hosts, “I always say that elitism sucks, when I’m not included.”
The Queens of the Stone Age frontman jovially continued: “I think over the years, one of the things that keeps you young, other than injections, is to have a good sense of humour. So, as the years have gone on, and we had access to more and more outrageous requests being honoured, it starts to make you ask for strange things.”
Homme then revealed: “For a while, I used to ask for chocolate covered ants and a map of Ireland to be put on the wall. People would ask me, ‘Josh, why do you have chocolate covered ants and a framed map of Ireland?’, and I would say, ‘Wouldn’t you like to know, mind your damn business’.”
While Homme’s requests veered into the realms of weird, the rocker saw it as an experiment to see how far he could push his luck. Ultimately, those working at festivals and major venues are used to dealing with the absurd, making a map of Ireland seem tame in comparison to the demands of other artists.
Elsewhere on the podcast, Homme provided an update on a new Queens of the Stone Age record, stating, “There was too much time in between the last record and this one. The goal is to make things and enjoy that process and so I’m going to roll up my sleeves and jump right into this.”
Prior to the release of In Times New Roman in 2023, it had been six years since Queens of the Stone Age shared a full-length album, but thankfully, the wait shouldn’t be as severe this time round.
Although Homme’s appearance on Dish is newly released, the episode was recorded before before Queens of the Stone Age cancelled a set of dates on their current European tour due to the frontman needing “emergency surgery”.
At this stage, there has been no further news on Homme’s surgery or the specifics of his situation. However, they are still scheduled to resume their European tour on August 8th at Sweden’s Way Out West Festival.
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