Bassist Nick Oliveri and vocalist Mark Lanegan have officially left Queens of the Stone Age to pursue their own individual projects. This news comes after the immense success of the band’s breakthrough album Songs for the Deaf and is apparently owed to the inability of Oliveri and frontman Josh Homme to “maintain a working partnership.” The band is planning to move forward and begin work on a new album this spring.http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2089251