Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme reveals cancer diagnosis: “This has been the darkest four years of my life”
“Cancer is just the cherry on top of an interesting time period,” the frontman says.
Image: Astrida Valigorsky / Getty Images
Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has revealed he was diagnosed with cancer in 2022.
In a new interview with Revolver, Homme reveals that he’s undergone surgery to remove the cancer and is currently in the process of healing.
“I never say it can’t get any worse. I never say that, and I wouldn’t advise it. But I do say it can get better,” he says. “Cancer is just the cherry on top of an interesting time period, you know?” says Homme, who’s been involved in an acrimonious custody battle with his ex-wife Brody Dalle since 2021.
“I’m extremely thankful that I’ll get through this, and I’ll look back at this as something that’s fucked up – but will have made me better. I’m cool with that. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do. And there’s a lot of people I want to do that with.”
The singer also shares that music has been his source of comfort during this difficult period, saying, “I’ve got nothing against therapy. I just don’t go because I play [music] instead.”
“Over the last couple years, I’ve done a lot of therapy, but at the end of the day, I understand how to proceed, moving forward with the religion that I use – music.”
Homme continues: “This has been the darkest four years of my life. But that’s OK, too. In the heartaches, my mistakes, these deaths and my own physical things I’m dealing with – even though all that has occurred and smashed my old life to pieces, those pieces I’ve been able to build into a ship that’s about to launch. I will float into my new life from all those pieces.”
Meanwhile, Queens of the Stone Age are set to release their new album In Times New Roman… on 16 June.
The band will be supporting the record with a 2023 North America tour, which kicks off on 3 August in Michigan. Tickets are available via their website.