Background and career
Nick Steven Oliveri (born October 21, 1971) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a former bassist of Kyuss and later Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004. Oliveri is also a solo artist and frequent contributor to his friends' albums and tours, including Winnebago Deal, Masters of Reality, Turbonegro, Moistboyz, Svetlanas and Big Scenic Nowhere among many others. He is the frontman of his project Mondo Generator, a punk and metal hybrid that he formed in 1997, and the co-founder of the stoner rock power trio, Stöner. He has also worked periodically with the Dwarves since 1993.
Nick Steven Oliveri was born in Los Angeles on October 21, 1971, and was then raised in Palm Springs from the age of 11. His first instrument was a guitar but he later moved to bass. His major influences were Kiss, Black Sabbath, Ramones, Rush and Van Halen. Oliveri was described by lifelong friend Brant Bjork as having a lifestyle reminiscent of the fictional character Spicoli in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High in his youth.
He began his career in 1987 as a guitarist, when he formed Katzenjammer with bandmates John Garcia, Josh Homme, Chris Cockrell and Brant Bjork. In early 1989, shortly after Oliveri's departure, the band changed its name to Sons of Kyuss, and after self-releasing an EP in 1990, the band re-recruited Oliveri on bass to replace Cockrell, and shortened their name to Kyuss. Oliveri left the band following completion of Blues for the Red Sun and was replaced by Scott Reeder, who had been approached about joining Kyuss five to six months earlier during a West Coast tour with The Obsessed. Following his departure from Kyuss, Oliveri joined the Dwarves as an on and off again bassist under the moniker "Rex Everything".
Nick Oliveri (under the moniker "Rex Everything") formed Mondo Generator in 1997 and with friends Josh Homme, Brant Bjork, Rob Oswald, Karl Doyle and others, recorded the debut album, Cocaine Rodeo. The album wouldn't be released until three years later due to Oliveri and Homme being full-time members of Queens of the Stone Age. The album was released by cult-favorite Southern Lord Records in 2000. There was little support of the album by the way of live shows, and the band gained cult status among the most devoted Queens of the Stone Age fans. As of April 2007, Mondo Generator was scheduled to appear on the 12th annual Ozzfest tour (otherwise known as the "FreeFest" tour), but officially dropped off the tour on July 26, 2007 after appearing at four Ozzfest dates. Oliveri stated, "This year it was free for the crowd, which was a great thing, but essentially the bands were playing for free too and we just couldn't afford to do that."
Oliveri was a core contributor to Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004, playing bass and providing backup and lead vocals on two of the band's biggest albums, Rated R and Songs for the Deaf, in addition to co-writing most of the album's songs with bandmate Josh Homme. He first appeared on the band's self titled debut album in the form of a voicemail confirming his commitment to the band on the album's final song, "I Was a Teenage Hand Model". Oliveri's lead singing can be heard on songs such as "Auto Pilot", "Tension Head" and "Quick and to the Pointless" from Rated R and "Another Love Song", "Gonna Leave You", "Six Shooter" and "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar but I Feel Like a Millionaire", from Songs for the Deaf. In January 2004, following a string of dates touring in Australia, Oliveri was fired from the band, with reasoning at first being aggressive treatment of the band's fans, later being accusations of possible abuse to his girlfriend. Oliveri has said to have come to the conclusion himself that during a soundcheck at a show in Spain in 2003, he acted too aggressively to Josh Homme over his relationship with then-girlfriend Brody Dalle after getting too drunk on wine, raising tension between the two. In a 2005 interview with BBC Radio 1, Homme stated that he had approached Oliveri about the abuse rumors and told him, "If I ever find out that this is true, I can’t know you, man." He also revealed an incident that occurred in the UK involving Oliveri and vocalist Mark Lanegan where the former "almost didn't make it out of the country."
Since his firing from Queens of the Stone Age, Oliveri has recorded an acoustic LP entitled Demolition Day that was eventually released as a second disc in the limited edition of the Mondo Generator album, Dead Planet: SonicSlowMotionTrails. In September 2006, Oliveri stated "I feel that Queens is something I can contribute to and Josh Homme needs me to do it." There was speculation that he would return in Queens of the Stone Age during their summer tour due to Josh Homme's dedication of "New Fang" to Nick for "new beginnings". However, this proved to be false. In March 2011, Oliveri stated: "The last time I saw them play was a benefit for Brian O'Connor in L.A., from the Eagles of Death Metal. I was down there and I mentioned to them, "Why don't I come up and do "Millionaire" or something, and sing it and not play bass?" [Josh] was like, "Nah, I don't think that's a good idea yet." It's kind of in his court for stuff like that. I don't think he wants to give anybody the wrong idea. I don't necessarily know if that would happen. And he's got a good band—he's taking the band in the direction he wants it to go." In late November 2012, Oliveri contributed vocals on the track "If I Had a Tail" for his former band Queens of the Stone Age on their album …Like Clockwork. Upon hearing fellow former Queens member Dave Grohl would make a return to drums on the album, Oliveri inquired to Josh Homme if he could play bass: "I actually put in a request with Josh. I heard Dave was playing on the record, and I was like, 'Dude! I wanna play bass on it!' I'd be a fool not to ask. If Dave Grohl was playing drums, then I want in. He's an amazing drummer. I never had a better time in my life than when Dave was in the band." Homme instead opted for current bassist Michael Shuman. In April 2014, Moistboyz opened for Queens of the Stone Age at a concert at the Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon. Oliveri then joined Queens of the Stone Age on stage for the first time in over a decade to sing "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire".
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
