Photos by Sharon Steele – Formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1998 by childhood friends Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme, Eagles of Death Metal emerged as an infectious, swagger-heavy antidote to the self-serious rock landscape. Born out of a tongue-in-cheek insider joke about what a cross between 1970s soft-rock giants The Eagles and the extreme metal genre would sound like, the project leaned into high-octane garage boogie rather than actual death metal. While Homme—already busy steering Queens of the Stone Age—served as the studio’s rhythmic backbone and co-architect, Hughes stepped center stage. Sporting a trademark handlebar mustache, aviators, and hyper-charismatic showmanship under the moniker “Boots Electric,” Hughes quickly turned the studio experiment into a beloved, groove-driven live spectacle.
The band made its full-length debut with 2004’s Peace, Love, Death Metal, unleashing a swaggering mix of distorted slide guitars, falsetto hooks, and danceable garage beats. Subsequent records like 2006’s Death by Sexy and 2008’s Heart On solidified their formula: raw, stripped-down rock and roll fueled by humor, irresistible riffs, and an uninhibited party atmosphere. Even as Homme’s primary touring obligations kept him off the road for most shows, Hughes assembled a revolving door of elite touring musicians to keep the band’s relentless, sweat-soaked live energy alive in clubs and festivals across the globe.
The group’s trajectory was forever altered on November 13, 2015, when a horrific terrorist attack occurred during their sold-out concert at The Bataclan in Paris. Demonstrating extraordinary resilience, the band returned to the stage mere months later to finish their tour and honor the victims, cementing a bond of solidarity with their international fanbase. Through grief, recovery, and subsequent releases—including 2019’s covers collection Eagles of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing the Best Songs We Never Wrote—Eagles of Death Metal have maintained their core identity: celebrating life, healing, and the unapologetic, joyous freedom of pure rock and roll.
