Queens of the Stone Age Ex-Bassist Nick Oliveri Arrested After Two-Hour Standoff With Police

Posted on Jul 13th 2011 2:45PM by Cameron Matthews Comments

Marc Broussely, RedFerns

When you play desert rock like Queens of the Stone Age you have to look and sound the part -- that means wearing a pair of ass-kicking boots, smoking tons of cigarettes and carrying a...loaded high powered rifle?

According to TMZ, ex-QOTSA bassist Nick Oliveri (39) was involved in an intense armed standoff with a Los Angeles, Calif. S.W.A.T. team over a previously reported domestic disturbance.

Apparently, the rocker's girlfriend had recently begun to move out of Oliveri's Hollywood home after he hit her during an argument. The next day while she was removing her belongings, Oliveri locked the door and wouldn't allow his girlfriend to leave.

Los Angeles police were called to the scene after a neighbor heard the couple arguing. Oliveri refused to let officers in the house which resulted in the cavalry being called. What followed was a two-hour standoff that ended without incident in Oliveri's arrest.

A search was administered after the standoff which produced a fully loaded, high-powered rifle. Oliveri is currently being held on $100,000 bail, accused of felony domestic violence.

And as Antiquiet points out, Oliveri has had a history of violence toward women. Queens of the Stoneage frontman Josh Homme told the BBC's Radio 1 in 2004 that the bassist had been fired from the band because of his attitude.

"A couple years ago, I spoke to Nick about a rumor I heard," Homme told BBC radio. "I said, 'If I ever find out that this is true, I can't know you, man.' Because music and my life are the same thing, there's no rules until something massive happens. [Nick] was over here [in England] with [QOTSA vocalist Mark] Lanegan and something happened again, and he almost didn't make it out of the country. That's not music anymore."

Watch Queens of the Stone Age's Video for 'No One Knows'

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