Queens of the Stone Age invited Nick Oliveri, a former band bassist from 1998 to 2004, onstage at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center in Joshua Tree, California, on Friday night (April 24), ending the 12-year gap since he last joined them.

Josh Homme introduced his former bandmate as “one of the people that I love dearly,” which shows that the reunion was friendly and warm, especially given that his departure from the band had been complicated. Afterward, Oliveri stepped up to contribute vocals on “Auto Pilot,” a track from the band’s landmark 2000 album Rated R.

Oliveri played with QOTSA from 1998 until 2004, appearing on both Rated R and Songs for the Deaf (2002), and had previously played alongside Homme in the stoner rock group Kyuss. After being fired in 2004, he briefly returned to provide backing vocals on “If I Had a Tail” from 2013 Like Clockwork and joined them onstage in Portland in 2014, which, until Friday, was the last time the two had performed together. Click here to watch 

Speaking in 2022, Oliveri reflected on the split with characteristic frankness. “We did so much in a five-year period, so much work, that we kind of burned out on each other,” he said, adding that things had since healed and that they are still friends. This is crucial given that Oliveri’s departure from the band had been rumored to involve aggressive behavior toward fans and was later linked to domestic abuse allegations involving his girlfriend, making the split far from friendly.   

According to MNE, QOTSA are currently gearing up for a high-profile run supporting Foo Fighters on their North American stadium tour later this year.