“No One Knows” by Queens of the Stone Age

"No One Knows" was the first single from Songs for the Deaf, Queens of the Stone Age's third album, in 2002, sitting second in the running order, and it's stoner rock sharpened into a hook you can't shake. Josh Homme wrote it with Mark Lanegan, sings it himself, and plays the guitar that locks into a stop-and-lurch riff like a truck grinding its gears on a desert switchback.

Dave Grohl sits behind the kit and hits with a precision that keeps the odd, lurching rhythm swinging, Nick Oliveri's bass shadows the riff, Alain Johannes adds keyboard, and Ana and Paz Lenchantin bring in strings. Homme produced it with Adam Kasper and Eric Valentine, and Kasper mixed it dry and punchy.

It became the band's first single on the Billboard Hot 100 and their only one to top the US alternative chart, and it earned a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.