Nick Stephen Oliveri (born October 21, 1971 in Los Angeles) is an American musician from Palm Desert, California. He plays bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and is a vocalist.

Oliveri is most famous for being a member of legendary Southern California stoner rock band Kyuss and a member of Queens of the Stone Age from 1998-2004. In punk rock circles, he is best-known for being "Rex Everything" in Dwarves.

Since 1997 he has fronted Mondo Generator, currently being billed as Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator. Oliveri is also a solo artist and frequent contributor to his friends' albums and tours, including Winnebago Deal, Mark Lanegan Band and Masters of Reality. In the past, he has been involved with the Desert Sessions and the River City Rapists.

Oliveri is known for playing bare chested and often naked at gigs, causing many authorities to order him to cover up. Most memorably, he was arrested in Brazil, after a nude performance at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro.

Queens of the Stone age years

Oliveri and band-mate Josh Homme were, in most eyes, the only two permanent members of Queens of the Stone Age. Being friends since childhood, the two meshed well together. Oliveri's punk background brought an element of danger and attitude to the Queens' live shows. His unique "howling" singing style made him easily distinguishable on songs such as "Six Shooter" from the album Songs for the Deaf; however, he also displays a more melodic singing style in QOTSA hits such as "Autopilot" and "Gonna Leave You".

After three albums and six years of touring with Queens of the Stone Age, he exited the group in early 2004 due to a conflict between him and frontman Joshua Homme. Nick allegedly developed a pattern of destructive behavior that Homme couldn't handle. Homme stated: "Everywhere we go, Nick is a like a whirlwind passing through. And I'm sick of being the one that has to clean up the mess all the time." Josh claimed that he was fed up with Oliveri's disrespect towards their fans and the destruction that he caused at gigs. However, a year later, Homme told Zane Lowe from Radio 1 that he and Nick had actually fallen out over several third party claims that Oliveri was violent towards his girlfriend. In 2005, Queens of the Stone Age released their first album after Oliveri's departure, Lullabies to Paralyze.

Post QOTSA

Since his departure from Queens of the Stone Age, Nick has both toured and appeared on-stage with Brant Bjork, Motorhead, Winnebago Deal, Masters of Reality, The Knives, The Dwarves, and Mark Lanegan. He also recorded an acoustic LP that has yet to be released. The latest Mondo Generator record has been released 4th September 2006.

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