(Credits: Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Tue 30 December 2025 10:22, UK
During a podcast appearance, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme divulged his love for the Bon Scott-era of AC/DC, naming the Australian group as being “in my top one and a half favourite bands of all time”.
Homme made the revelation while he was a guest on Bill Burr’s hit podcast The Monday Morning. During their wide-ranging conversation, the comedian brought up how AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young was his “fashion icon”, leading Homme to confess, “I fucking love Malcolm Young”.
He continued: “Watching all those early videos like ‘Jailbreak’ and stuff, it’s the best. I mean, AC/DC have got to be in my top one and a half favourite bands of all-time.”
Homme then burst into an impression of the late Bon Scott and spoke about how Scott’s commitment to the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle endeared him to the singer. The Queens of the Stone Age frontman and Burr then discussed his “hard living”, which Burr jokingly said caused Scott to look older at 34 than he did.
The former Kyuss guitarist then revealed that while he was on tour in Seattle, he visited a “travelling AC/DC exhibition”. Recalling the day, Homme said: “There’s about 15 of us, it’s in the middle of the day on like a Tuesday, and we were all together these 15 people. I’m reading this letter that Bon Scott has written to his aunt, that was like, ‘I’m having a great time on the road, doing a lot of coke, having a lot of sex. You’d love it out here’. It was to his aunt,” he laughed.
Later in the episode, the QOTSA leader proceeded to break down the element that makes AC/DC such a special rock band, noting: “The simplicity is actually hard to do, and to be committed to sticking it, even Phil Rudd not playing too much.” He added: “Bon Scott could sing about rock ‘n’ roll, which is a hard thing to do too and take seriously.”
Homme’s admiration for AC/DC has always been rooted in feel rather than flash. As a songwriter, he has long championed bands that understand restraint, where groove and commitment outweigh complexity. The Bon Scott era, in particular, represents a version of rock music that feels lived in, unpretentious, and stubbornly human, qualities that have quietly shaped Homme’s own approach to heavy music.
That perspective also explains why Homme gravitates toward artists who treat rock as both performance and personality. What matters is not technical excess, but conviction, whether it comes through a locked-in rhythm section or lyrics that lean fully into their subject matter without embarrassment. For Homme, the best rock bands are the ones that commit completely to their identity and trust that simplicity, when done right, is more than enough.
Meanwhile, Homme also revealed to Burr that Viagra Boys are currently his favourite band. “There’s this band Viagra Boys I’ve been listening to a lot,” he told the stand-up comic, who had asked for musical recommendations. “It’s very sort of raw and loose, and self-aware like it’s kind of skewing culture but by admitting and making fun of this but it’s me.”
“It’s self-aware, the singer Sebastian (Murphy) is really self-aware and free in himself, there’s a bit of Iggy and along the road that we have taken,” Homme continued.
Watch the full podcast episode below.
Related Topics