The band was formed in 1996 after the dissolution of frontman Josh Homme's previous band, Kyuss. Over the years, the band have had many collaborators such as Mark Lanegan, Natasha Shneider and Billy Gibbons.
QOTSA opened for NIN during the [[With Teeth Fall Arena Tour]] and [[NIN + QOTSA Tour|co-headlined]] with NIN during the Oceania/Asia portion of the [[NIN 2013-2014]] tour. Homme stated in an interview that Reznor recorded a song with him for use on the album ''[[Year Zero]],'' but the song did not make it through to the final cut. Reznor appeared on "Era Vulgaris" from ''Era Vulgaris'' (download-only bonus track), and "Kalopsia" and "Fairweather Friends" from ''...Like Clockwork''.
Reznor and Homme also collaborated with [[Dave Grohl]] on a track called "Mantra" from the soundtrack to his documentary ''Sound City: Real To Reel''. In 2014, NIN and QOTSA performed together alongside Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham for the [[2014/01/26_Los_Angeles,_CA|56th Annual GRAMMY Awards]].