Songs for the Deaf is a 2002 album by hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age and is notable for including Dave Grohl, well-known Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters guitarist and lead singer, as a guest drummer. Like their other albums, Songs for the Deaf has a large number of guest musicians, a signature of the band's releases. Following the breakthrough Rated R, this album is widely regarded as Queens of the Stone Age's magnum opus, achieving enormous success with critics , whilst earning the band's first gold record certification in the U.S., having sold 986,000 copies in the country as of June, 2007 according to Nielsen Soundscan. Songs for the Deaf is considered a concept album, supposedly inspired by Josh Homme's tedious drive through the Southern Californian desert with only a few Mexican radio channels.