Dean Fertita

Dean Anthony Fertita (born September 6, 1970) is an American rock multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as a keyboardist and guitarist of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, and as the guitarist and keyboardist for the Dead Weather.

Fertita was the lead singer and guitarist of the Waxwings from the band's formation in 1997 to its breakup in 2005. Fertita then moved on to collaborate with Brendan Benson, playing keyboards and guitar on Benson's solo releases and as a touring keyboard player for the Raconteurs. In 2007, Fertita joined Queens of the Stone Age to replace the late Natasha Shneider on keyboards and occasionally guitar on some songs.

In 2015, Fertita collaborated with his Queens of the Stone Age bandmate Josh Homme in recording Iggy Pop's studio album, Post Pop Depression (2016), and in 2019 he joined the Raconteurs as a sideman in support of their third studio album, Help Us Stranger.

Fertita has released two solo albums to date, with his first being released under the name Hello=Fire in 2009, and his second under the name Tropical Gothclub in 2022.

Fertita was a member of the band Reigndance from 1989–97 and appeared briefly on the first season of MTV's The Real World.

In 1997 Fertita formed the power pop band The Waxwings along with bassist Kevin Peyok, drummer James Edmunds and guitarist Dominic Romano. The band's name, as well as the name of their debut record, was derived from the first line of a poem in Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire: In 2000 The Waxwings signed with Bobsled Records and began work on their debut album, Low to the Ground, recorded at Terrarium Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Bryan Hanna. The albums was featured in Magnet Magazine's Top 20 albums of 2000–2001. In 2002 the band released their second album Shadows Of... After the band's release party a letter surfaced, in which Bobslead Records head, Bob Salerno, ridiculed the band for what he considered to be a poor live performance. The letter gained notoriety after being posted on the internet entertainment forum the Velvet Rope.

After the controversy with Salerno the band released their third album – recorded with Brendan Benson – Let's Make Our Descent on Rainbow Quartz Records in 2004. In 2005 the band stated on its official website that work had begun on songs for a fourth studio album. Since then members of the band have been involved with other projects and no information regarding the band's status have been released.

After The Waxwings broke up in 2004, Fertita was recruited by Brendan Benson to play keyboard on Benson's two-man British acoustic tour Fertita and Benson first met each other via mutual friends in high school, and soon established a working relationship. Fertita cites Benson as a big influence, inspiring him to focus more energy on song writing instead of loud riffs. When Benson formed The Raconteurs Fertita was recruited to play keyboards and organ on the tour in support of the Broken Boy Soldiers album. Fertita also recorded clavinet parts for the band's second studio album Consolers of the Lonely in 2008. Benson also produced and made several contributions to Fertita's debut solo album.