Jesse Everett Hughes (born September 24, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the frontman of the rock band Eagles of Death Metal, with whom he has recorded four studio albums and a live album.

Early life [ edit ]

Jesse Everett Hughes was born in Greenville, South Carolina on September 24, 1972. At age seven, he moved with his mother Jo Ellen to Palm Desert, California. In high school, he met Josh Homme, and they became good friends after Homme stopped a bully from picking on Hughes. Hughes graduated from Greenville Technical College with a degree in journalism and worked as the manager of a video depot in Palm Desert for several years.

Recording career [ edit ]

Eagles of Death Metal [ edit ]

Hughes and Homme formed Eagles of Death Metal in 1998. Hughes credits Homme with saving his life, claiming that during the recording of the second Eagles of Death Metal album Death By Sexy, he fell into serious drug addiction and that Homme not only drove him to rehabilitation, but paid for it as well.[1]

Le Bataclan attack [ edit ]

On November 13, 2015, the Bataclan theatre in Paris was attacked by terrorists while Eagles of Death Metal were performing. Hughes escaped with the rest of the band via the backstage,[2] however the band's merchandise manager, Nick Alexander, was killed.[3] The terrorist attacks killed 89 fans at the theatre, and 130 people overall.[4]

Months after the Paris attacks, Hughes made a series of controversial statements. Hughes blamed Islam, liberal values, and French gun controls laws for the attacks, and claimed that Muslims "[celebrated] in the streets during the attack".[5][6] He also speculated that the attack at the Bataclan was an inside job, saying that security personnel who did not report to the venue that day "had a reason not to show up".[7] As a result, he and his band were dropped from the lineup of two French music festivals.[8][9] The management of the Bataclan said that Hughes and his manager were refused entry to the venue when he tried to visit on the anniversary of the attack; he and his management claim this was not true, and that he never tried to enter.[10][11][12]

Other projects [ edit ]

Hughes is one of the characters in the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars by Paul Miles published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.[13]

In September 2011, Hughes released his first solo album under the nickname Boots Electric. The album, Honkey Kong, was released on Dangerbird Records.[14][15] He played his first[citation needed] show in Columbus, Ohio, on August 12, 2011, at the CD 101 Summerfest Eve.[16]

On December 6, 2012, Jesse Hughes became an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church.[17]

In 2015, Hughes appeared in the Björn Tagemose-directed silent film Gutterdämmerung, starring Iggy Pop, Grace Jones, Lemmy and Henry Rollins.[18]

Pseudonyms [ edit ]

Hughes uses many different nicknames, including "J. Devil" (or simply "The Devil")[19] as well as "Boots Electric" ("Boots" for short) and "Fabulous Weapon" (both of which were band names used by Hughes' father). In an interview, Hughes revealed that his band mate Josh Homme gave him "The Devil" nickname when he was 13. "I used to get picked on a lot by Karl Doyle" says Hughes, "And when I would get picked on severely, or if it really made a point to me, I would get vengeance, but I would get vengeance in the way that I could, which was mostly clever and all consuming. Joshua once witnessed me in the moment I was about to enact vengeance upon someone, and he just said, 'You're the fucking devil dude,' and it stuck."[20]

Musical equipment [ edit ]

Hughes is currently endorsed by Maton guitars[21] and Orange amplifiers.[22]

Guitars [ edit ]

Maton MS500 Electric

Maton BB1200 Electric

Maton EAJ85 Jumbo Acoustic

Yamaha AES1500

Custom Gretsch Duo Jet with orange finish and black rooster knob in place of master volume knob [23]

Effects [ edit ]

Ernie Ball Wah Pedal

Boss DD-6 Delay

TC Electronic Nova Drive Overdrive/Distortion

Boss TU-2 Tuner

EHX Mini Q Tron

EHX Deluxe Memory Man Classic Chassis

MOOG MF-102 Moogerfooger Ring Modulator

MXR Phase 100

Boss BF-3 Flanger

Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer

Vox V8474 Wah

Custom L.A. Sound Design Pedalboard[24]

Amplifiers [ edit ]

Orange Rockerverb 50w combo

Orange 4x12 Cabinet

Laney Amplifer

Personal life [ edit ]

In a 2007 interview, bandmate Josh Homme stated "Jesse Hughes and I have a theory; we’re socially liberal but government conservative guys".[25] Hughes has also said "I wanted to be a Republican politician, for God sakes. I’m a conservative, dude".[26]

In 2017, Andrew Julian Vega, a former friend of Hughes, obtained a restraining order against Hughes after he made threats against Vega's life.[27]

In March 2018, Hughes criticised the March for Our Lives protesters in a series of posts on Instagram, calling them "pathetic" and "disgusting vile abusers of the dead". He accused the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting participating in the protest of "exploiting the death of 16 of our fellow students for a few Facebook likes and some media attention", while accusing one of them, Emma González, of treason.[28] Hughes later deleted the posts. Amidst criticism for his comments, he apologized five days later, saying: "I was not attempting to impugn the youth of America and this beautiful thing that they accomplished. I truly am sorry, I did not mean to hurt anyone or cause any harm."[29]

Selected discography [ edit ]