Legendary vocalist Mark Lanegan, famous for his band The Screaming Trees and his prolific solo career, died at 57 earlier this week. Though that's hardly even scratching any part of the surface of Lanegan's massive body of work. So let's all take a few minutes today and appreciate a handful of Lanegan's fantastic guest spots and collaborative performances across the years. And perhaps more importantly, here's hoping this list sets some people down the path of exploring Lanegan's output.
Cosmo-Daemonic Telegraph Company – "Dominance And Submission" (2022)
Lanegan teamed up with his former Queens Of The Stone Age bandmate Nick Oliveri, as well as Quasi drummer Sam Coomes, for a cover of Blue Öyster Cult's 1974 track "Dominance And Submission" alongside the Cosmo-Daemonic Telegraph Company band. The cover was a part of Ripple Music's Döminance and Submissiön: A Tribute to Blue Öyster Cult, which you can check out in full here.
The Armed – "The Music Becomes A Skull" (2021)
According to The Armed guitarist and vocalist Adam Vallely in an interview with Rock Sound, Lanegan turned this one around incredibly quick. "There was a time when we talked about it, and Dan just said something like, ‘Things aren’t right, we need Mark Lanegan to sing on this song’. With zero exaggeration, in 24 hours, Mark Lanegan had delivered us stems for the song."
Cult Of Luna – "Inside Of A Dream" (2021)
Much like his appearance with The Armed, Lanegan knocked out his spot with Cult Of Luna real quick. Cult Of Luna guitarist Johannes Persson explained to MetalSucks that after going through each artist's manager, "finally me and Mark started talking directly via email. It was interesting because he wrote me and I sent him the song and he wrote me back. I had a lot of things to do during that time so maybe it took me a week to answer his email. I wanted to give him a good answer, I wanted to have time to sit down and write the email and say, like, 'Do you want me to write the lyrics? This is the idea I have of how you could do it but you're totally free to do whatever you want.'
"And I got an answer straight back. 'Yes, I already recorded the song. I really enjoyed it, I cannot do any retakes because I disassembled the whole studio to move from the house. I hope you like it, if not, it was a good time.' And I listened to it like, 'Dude, you don't have to do any retakes. You're not that kind of a person.'
Mark Lanegan & Maggie Björklund – "Nutshell" (2020)
Lanegan and singer-songwriter Maggie Björklund teamed up for an absolutely gorgeous cover of "Nutshell" by Alice In Chains as a part of the at-home 2020 Museum of Pop Culture's Founders Award fundraiser honoring the legendary grunge band.
Mark Morton – "Axis" (2019)
Lamb Of God guitarist Mark Morton said in an interview with The Pit that he cold-called Lanegan and didn't expect him to know who the hell he was. Fortunately it worked out and we got the single "Axis" off Morton's solo album. "I didn't expect him to know who I was or know anything about my work with Lamb Of God. I still actually don't know or not. But he said yes. He's a man of very few words, and I think the response was, 'Send me the song.' I sent him the song and he recorded the vocal."
"When I heard it back, I had a completely new idea for the song. So my dumb ass went and took the music off of it and had Josh give me just the vocal to a click. I wrote a whole new song to his vocal, which is the one you hear on the album. Then I had to send it back to him like, 'Well … I changed the whole song — but your vocal's great! You don't have to do anything. Do you still dig it?'"
Eagles Of Death Metal – "Long Slow Goodbye" (2019)
It's only appropriate Lanegan guested on Eagles Of Death Metal covering Queens Of The Stone Age's "Long Slow Goodbye," considering he helped write the original song off Lullabies To Paralyze. Lanegan had already left the band by Lullabies To Paralyze, but still contributed writing and vocals to the record. And then of course teamed up with Homme's Eagles Of Death Metal in 2019 for this cover off EODM Presents Boots Electric Performing the Best Songs We Never Wrote.
Domkraft – "Where We Part Ways" (2019)
Lanegan teamed up with Domkraft for their massive 13-minute epic "Where We Part Ways" off the 2019 EP Slow Fidelity. "Guesting on this song by Domkraft was fun, the kind of music I don't get a chance to sing on that often," Lanegan said in an interview with Decibel. "It reminds me of the music of my youth."
Mark Lanegan – "Nobody Home" (2018)
Lanegan contributed an excellent cover of Pink Floyd's "Nobody Home" to Magnetic Eye Records' covers project The Wall [Redux], which of course sought to re-imagine the classic Floyd album.
"I am a fan of early Pink Floyd and late period Floyd but was never really into the really famous records in between," said Lanegan at the time about the cover. "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, A Saucerful Of Secrets, and More were my jams. And in the late '80s I enjoyed A Momentary Lapse In Reason and even The Division Bell from '94."
Earth – "There Is A Serpent Coming" (2014)
Drone pioneers Earth recruited Lanegan for both "There Is A Serpent Coming" and "Rooks Across The Gate" on their 2014 album Primitive And Deadly. The record was a turn away from Earth's usual drone and, in their own words, showcased the band "[allowing] themselves to be a rock band."
Mondo Generator – "Four Corners" (2003)
Unlike the Blue Öyster Cult cover, Lanegan's guest spot on this Mondo Generator track finds him teaming up with Oliveri while they were both still in Queens Of The Stone Age. A Drug Problem That Never Existed also featured Queens Of The Stone Age vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, both of whom are still in Queens Of The Stone Age today.
Masters Of Reality – "High Noon Amsterdam" (2001)
Much like Mondo Generator, Lanegan's guest spot on Masters Of Reality's 2001 album Deep In The Hole also came alongside Oliveri, Homme, and Van Leeuwen. Though none of the aforementioned were officially in the band at the time – Masters Of Reality is very much the project of vocalist Chris Goss.
The Desert Sessions – "Hanging Tree" (2001)
"Hanging Tree" is an interesting addition to this list because it was originally a Lanegan guest spot. The song was featured on Homme's 2001 The Desert Sessions album Volume 7: Gypsy Marches, but was later added to Queens Of The Stone Age's 2002 album Songs For The Deaf (as were a few songs from that record).
Mad Season – "I'm Above" (1995)
Mad Season was one hell of a supergroup featuring Alice In Chains vocalist Layne Staley, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, bassist John Baker Saunders, and Lanegan's band Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. Lanegan performed on four of the 10 tracks found on Mad Season's only album Above – "I'm Above", "Long Gone Day", "Locomotive", "Black Book of Fear" and "Slip Away."
