Dean Fertita

Dean Anthony Fertita (born September 6, 1970) is an American rock multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as a member of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, and as the guitarist and keyboardist for The Dead Weather.

Fertita was the lead singer and guitarist of The Waxwings from the band's formation in 1997 to its breakup in 2005. Fertita then moved on to collaborate with Brendan Benson, playing keyboards and guitar on Benson's solo releases and as a touring keyboard player for The Raconteurs. In 2007, Fertita joined Queens of the Stone Age to replace the late Natasha Shneider on keyboards and occasionally guitar on some songs. In 2009, Fertita released his debut album as a solo artist.

In 2015, Fertita collaborated with his Queens of the Stone Age bandmate Josh Homme in recording Iggy Pop's forthcoming studio album, Post Pop Depression (2016).

Recording career

Reigndance

Fertita was a member of the band Reigndance from 1990–97.

The Waxwings

In 1997 Fertita formed the power pop band The Waxwings along with bassist Kevin Peyok, drummer James Edmunds and guitarist Dominic Romano. The band's name, as well as the name of their debut record, was derived from the first line of a poem in Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire: In 2000 The Waxwings signed with Bobsled Records and began work on their debut album, Low to the Ground, recorded at Terrarium Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Bryan Hanna. The albums was featured in Magnet Magazine's Top 20 albums of 2000–2001. In 2002 the band released their second album Shadows Of... After the band's release party a letter surfaced, in which Bobslead Records head, Bob Salerno, ridiculed the band for what he considered to be a poor live performance. The letter gained notoriety after being posted on the internet entertainment forum the Velvet Rope.

The Dead Weather

The Dead Weather is an American rock supergroup, formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2009. Composed of Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount), Jack White (formerly of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes and City and Colour), The Dead Weather debuted at the opening of Third Man Records' Nashville headquarters on March 11, 2009. The band performed live for the first time at the event, immediately before releasing their debut single "Hang You from the Heavens".

The band's second studio album, Sea of Cowards, was released first in Ireland on May 7, 2010, then on May 10 and 11 in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. Dodge and Burn, their third studio album, was released in September 2015.

History

Formation and Horehound

When The Raconteurs were performing in Memphis, Tennessee, Jack White lost his voice and the band asked Alison Mosshart of The Kills with whom they were touring to fill in on some songs. She sang lead vocals on "Steady as She Goes" and "Salute Your Solution". White later asked her if she would record a song with him and Jack Lawrence. They met Dean Fertita at the studio and they ended up performing more than one song that night.

The Dead

The Dead may refer to:

Arts, entertainment, and media

Film

Literature

Music

Stage productions

See also

Stone Age

The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make implements with a sharp edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 6000 BCE and 2000 BCE with the advent of metalworking.

Stone Age artifacts include tools used by modern humans and by their predecessor species in the genus Homo, and possibly by the earlier partly contemporaneous genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus. Bone tools were used during this period as well but are rarely preserved in the archaeological record. The Stone Age is further subdivided by the types of stone tools in use.

The Stone Age is the first of the three-age system of archaeology, which divides human technological prehistory into three periods:

Historical significance

The Stone Age is contemporaneous with the evolution of the genus Homo, the only exception possibly being at the very beginning, when species prior to Homo may have manufactured tools. According to the age and location of the current evidence, the cradle of the genus is the East African Rift System, especially toward the north in Ethiopia, where it is bordered by grasslands. The closest relative among the other living Primates, the genus Pan, represents a branch that continued on in the deep forest, where the primates evolved. The rift served as a conduit for movement into southern Africa and also north down the Nile into North Africa and through the continuation of the rift in the Levant to the vast grasslands of Asia.

Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1996. The band's line-up includes founder Josh Homme (lead vocals, guitar, piano), alongside longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, lap steel, keyboard, percussion, backing vocals), Michael Shuman (bass guitar, keyboard, backing vocals), Dean Fertita (keyboards, guitar, percussion, backing vocals), and recent addition Jon Theodore (drums, percussion).

Formed after the dissolution of Homme's previous band, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy rock music. Their sound has since evolved to incorporate a variety of different styles and influences, including working with ZZ Top member Billy Gibbons and steady contributor Mark Lanegan.

History

Formation, early career and debut album (1996–1999)

Queens of the Stone Age began with Josh Homme in 1996. After the breakup of Kyuss in 1995, Homme had briefly joined Screaming Trees as a touring guitarist, before deciding to form a new band of his own. Originally naming his new project 'Gamma Ray', Homme changed the name in 1997, as German power metal band Gamma Ray, who have been around since 1989, was threatening to sue: