Eagles of Death Metal

Eagles of Death Metal

Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock group from Palm Desert, United States, formed in 1998 and active since then. The core line-up is Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme, with Hughes on vocals and guitar and Homme on drums. The band uses a rotating cast of additional musicians for studio and live work, and Homme appears only rarely at live shows because of commitments with Queens of the Stone Age. Touring members include Leah Bluestein on drums, Scott Shiflett on guitar, Jennie Vee on bass and Rex Roulette on guitar.

Style and name

The band is not a death metal act; the name is meant as a joke. Their sound is described by Homme as a mix of bluegrass slide guitar, stripper drum beats and Canned Heat-style vocals. Their genres are generally listed as alternative rock, garage rock, garage rock revival, hard rock and stoner rock.

Early appearances and albums

The band first appears in 1998 on Josh Homme’s The Desert Sessions Volumes 3 & 4. Their debut album, Peace, Love, Death Metal, arrives in 2004, followed by Death by Sexy in 2006 and Heart On in 2008. The group’s fourth studio album, Zipper Down, is released in 2015. Their label is Play It Forward EODM.

Use in film, television and games

Several Eagles of Death Metal songs are used in advertising, film promotion and other media. Tracks appear in campaigns for Ask.com, Comcast, Nissan Motors, Budweiser, Pontiac Motors and Wendy’s, and in promotional material for Thank You for Smoking and Grindhouse. “I Only Want You” appears in Gran Turismo 4 and in Microsoft promotion for Windows 8, while “Miss Alissa” is used in a FIFA World Cup 2014 campaign video. Songs from Death by Sexy are placed in Tony Hawk’s Project 8, Need for Speed: Carbon, True Blood and Criminal Minds. “Cherry Cola” appears in a Microsoft Zune advert, and “Wannabe in L.A.” is featured in Midnight Club: Los Angeles and later in other games and media.

Tours, collaborations and side projects

The band tours with acts including The Strokes, Peaches, Joan Jett and, briefly, Guns N’ Roses. During the period around Heart On, it also tours in North America and performs with Arctic Monkeys. In 2010, touring bassist Brian O’Connor is diagnosed with cancer, prompting benefit shows with musicians including Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones; Abby Travis fills in on bass during O’Connor’s recovery. In 2011, Jesse Hughes releases a solo album as Boots Electric titled Honkey Kong.

2015 Paris attack and aftermath

In November 2015, the band performs at the Bataclan theatre in Paris when an armed attack interrupts the show during “Kiss the Devil”. About 90 people are killed, including merchandise team member Nick Alexander. Several band members and crew escape through different exits, while others shelter inside before evacuation. Afterward, the band supports tributes and fundraising efforts, including a campaign around its cover of Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer”, and later helps organise a cover initiative for “I Love You All the Time” to support victims. In December 2015, the band appears with U2 in Paris, performing “People Have the Power” and “I Love You All the Time”. It later returns to the Bataclan to pay respects, then resumes touring under the “Nos Amis Tour”, including a Paris performance in February 2016 that admits previous Bataclan ticket holders free of charge.

Later years

In 2016, Hughes makes public comments about the attack that are later criticised, and he later apologises. The band is removed from the Rock en Seine lineup. A documentary, Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends), directed by Colin Hanks, is released in 2017 and focuses on the band and the aftermath of the attack. The band continues touring in the United States and Europe, with Jennie Vee joining on bass during this period. In 2017 it also becomes involved in scoring Super Troopers 2. In 2018, it plays a New Year’s Eve show in California, where “Kiss the Devil” is performed for the first time in several years.