Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal (often abbreviated to EoDM) is an American stoner rock/garage rock band led by vocalist and guitarist Jesse "The Devil" Hughes.
Eagles of Death Metal, Rock am Ring 2019
Band History
Initially formed in 1998 with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme on drums during a recording for the Desert Sessions, the line-up changed constantly from 2004 onwards. Among others, Tim Vanhamel from the band Millionaire (guitar), Dave Catching (guitar, earthlings?), Joey Castillo (drums, Queens of the Stone Age) and Samantha Maloney (drums, ex-Mötley Crüe, Hole) participated, especially in live performances.
Their first release is the live album Live at Slims, released in November 2003, which was available for free download on the website. Hughes and Homme created a thoroughly self-deprecating blend of blues, boogie and classic stoner rock with simple guitar riffs and precise, minimalist drumming. But it's Hughes' song lyrics in particular that make the band a humorous satire on the classic rock 'n' roll ethos. Their first regular studio album is Peace, Love, Death Metal, released in 2004.
On their second studio album, released in 2006 under the title Death by Sexy, they consistently continue this style with a broad garage rock sound. The first music video I Want You So Hard features Jack Black and Dave Grohl as guests.
In the movie Fantastic Movie (Epic Movie) they have a guest appearance as an Elven band.
On 16 January 2009, the third studio album Heart On was released in Germany. On 2 October 2015, the studio album Zipper Down was released. The first single Complexity was a remaster of a song from the four-year-old Boots Electric album Honkey Kong.
On August 4, 2017, Eagle Rock Entertainment released the DVD, Blu-ray, 2-CD I Love You All the Time Live at The Olympia in Paris.
Terrorist attacks in Paris 2015
In the course of the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015, the Bataclan concert hall was a target chosen by the terrorists. At the time of the attacks, the Eagles of Death Metal were playing a concert. 89 visitors died, and hundreds more were injured, some seriously.
The band members escaped through the stage exit and were unharmed. The attack killed Nick Alexander, a British merchandise helper for the band. The group cancelled the remaining shows of the tour, originally scheduled to run until 10 December 2015, the following day.
The band members gave their first interview after the Paris attacks to VICE magazine founder Shane Smith. Singer Jesse Hughes described the terrorist attack in the Paris club.
Through an online campaign to support the band and all those affected, the Eagles of Death Metal reached #1 on the iTunes (UK) rock chart and #1 on the Amazon rock chart with a cover version of Save a Prayer (DuranDuran). Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon, co-writer of the original version released as a single in 1982, stated that he would donate the royalties.
A letter of confession that emerged immediately after the attacks spoke of "a concert of prostitution and sin". Various newspapers speculated that both the Bataclan club and the band were chosen as the target of the Paris terror series for anti-Semitic reasons. After the attack, concert organizer Lieberberg speculated that the band might have been targeted by the terrorists because of its solidarity with Israel.
The band members' pro-Israel stance had already earned them calls for a boycott in July 2015. A prominent supporter of the anti-Israel BDS movement, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, had called on the Eagles of Death Metal not to perform in Israel before a concert in Tel Aviv (2015). Eagles Of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes had then made his solidarity with Israel known: "I would never boycott a place like this!" he added: "I've never felt more at home than I do here!"
On 7 December 2015, the Eagles of Death Metal returned to the stage and to Paris as special guests of U2 at the AccorHotels Arena. Their concert at the Bataclan, which was prematurely cancelled due to the terrorist attacks, ended on 16 February 2016 at the Olympia in Paris. The band invited bereaved families and survivors of the attack and gave away free tickets.
Due to an interview with Hughes in which he accused the Bataclan's security of complicity with the perpetrators and further statements by Hughes that Muslims in the streets had celebrated the attack and that Turkish fans had booed a minute's silence for the victims of the attack during the Greece-Turkey match, the band was dropped from several French festivals.
When the Bataclan reopened on November 12, 2016, Jesse Hughes and another member of the band were turned away at the door by Jules Frutos, one of the venue's bosses. "They arrived, I threw them out - there are things you don't forget," Frutos told French news agency AFP. The management of the concert hall justified the expulsion with the questionable statements of the singer Jesse Hughes.
