"It was such a poetic ending to a career that you just can’t take your eyes and ears off." Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme salutes the late Ozzy Osbourne

Josh Homme, Ozzy Osbourne
(Image credit: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images |  Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has shared his thoughts on the passing of Ozzy Osbourne.

Homme wasn't always on the best of terms with the Osbourne family - falling out with Sharon Osbourne after telling US magazine Blender that playing the Ozzfest 2000 tour was his "worst summer job" ever - but speaking to Radio X, the 52-year-old musician was gracious when speaking about Ozzy, and his farewell concert in Birmingham on July 5.

"I think it was such a poetic ending to a career that you just can’t take your eyes and ears off of," he says. “I mean, I could watch Ozzy do anything. Well, almost anything. But, you know, if he was squeezing orange juice, I’d be like, We should watch this. Something beyond juice is coming, you know? I just think he’s a classic."

"I think his passing was poetic, and I feel for the family, because that’s such a loss," he continued. "But I also think that I believe that they see the poetry in that too. You know, I think David Bowie’s passing was that those are two poetic ways to go."

Homme is referring here to the fact that Bowie was able to release his Blackstar album just days before his death in 2016.

Josh Homme's band recently announced the UK and European legs of their upcoming Catacombs Tour.

The schedule begins on November 18 at Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber in Milan, Italy, and wraps up on November 29 at London's iconic Royal Albert Hall. The tour also visits Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Antwerp.

The Catacombs Tour follows in the subterrestrial footsteps of the band's Queens Of The Stone Age: Alive In The Catacombs film and live album, which was released earliest this summer, documenting their performance last year in the Paris Catacombs, home to the remains of more than six million people.

"The Catacombs Tour will see QOTSA draw upon the spirit of those sublime subterranean renditions and infuse it into reimagined versions that promise to twist the volume knob in both directions," boasts a statement from the band. "Enhanced by assembled ensembles, the end result will be a precious few unique and intimate performances unlike any previous QOTSA tour.

"Appropriate dress is encouraged for this very special evening at the theatre."

Yeah, whatevs.


Queens Of The Stone Age: The Catacomb Tour

Oct 02: Chicago Theatre, IL
Oct 03: Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre, MI
Oct 05: Toronto Massey Hall, ON
Oct 07: Philadelphia The Met, PA
Oct 08: Boston Wang Theatre - Boch Center, MA
Oct 10: New York Beacon Theatre, NY

Oct 18: Milan Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber, Italy
Oct 23: Berlin Theater des Westens, Germany
Oct 24: Copenhagen Koncerthuset Koncertsalen, Denmark
Oct 26: Amsterdam Royal Theater Carré, Netherlands
Oct 27: Antwerp Queen Elisabeth Hall, Belgium
Oct 29: London Royal Albert Hall, UK

Nov 08: Santa Barbara Arlington Theatre, CA
Nov 10: San Francisco Davies Symphony Hall, CA
Nov 11: Los Angeles Dolby Theater, CA
Nov 19: Austin Bass Concert Hall, TX
Nov 21: New Orleans Saenger Theatre, LA

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

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