Geoff Tate (born Jeffrey Wayne Tate, January 14, 1959; he later changed his first name to Geoffery or Geoffrey) is an American singer and songwriter. He rose to fame with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, who had commercial success with their 1988 album Operation: Mindcrime and 1990 album Empire. Tate is ranked fourteenth on Hit Paraders list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time. He was voted No. 2 on That Metal Show's top 5 hard rock vocalists of the 1980s. In 2012, he won the Vegas Rocks! Magazine Music Award for "Voice in Progressive Heavy Metal". In 2015, he placed ninth on OC Weeklys list of the 10 Best High-Pitched Metal Singers. After his farewell tour as Queensrÿche, he renamed his band Operation: Mindcrime, after the Queensrÿche album of the same name.

Early years

Tate was born in Stuttgart, Shortly after his birth, his family relocated to Tacoma, Washington. Tate had an interest in music from an early age. He was especially interested in symphonic works. He enrolled in Tacoma Community College after graduating from high school in 1977, but dropped out after a year.

Career

Queensrÿche (1982–2012)

Tate early on was in a progressive band called Babylon and he was asked to sing with the cover band The Mob (who would later start writing original material and become Queensrÿche) at a local rock festival. After Babylon broke up, Tate performed a few shows with The Mob, but left because he was not interested in playing cover songs, he was writing his own music.

The Mob again called on Tate in 1981, this time to record a demo tape, which he accepted, convincing his bandmates in Myth that getting professional recording experience would benefit all of them in the future. Myth went on to record the album Arabia after Tate had left.

Queensrÿche was signed to EMI in the summer of 1983, Soon after, Tate and his wife Susan (who served as the band's manager from 2005 to 2012) filed a lawsuit in a Washington court, saying that he was wrongfully terminated from the group. They also filed a preliminary injunction in an attempt to prevent either side from using the band's name and likeness until the lawsuit was settled, but this was denied by a judge who decided that both parties could use the name Queensrÿche until a settlement or a court verdict determined who would get the name. It was revealed to the public on April 28, 2014, that Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson were given the exclusive rights to the Queensrÿche trademark and that Tate received the rights to Operation: Mindcrime.

Firing from Queensrÿche, case and settlement (2012–2014)

Confrontation

thumb|Drummer Scott Rockenfield and singer Geoff Tate performing with Queensrÿche in [[São Paulo, Brazil on April 14, 2012. Tate would repeatedly spit at Rockenfield during this show. which Tate did not attend, the band fired both Tate's stepdaughter, Miranda, from running the fan club, and his wife Susan, their band manager since 2005. According to Wilton, the reasons were that "the last 3 years, basically it just came to a point that we didn't have a voice in the band anymore. It was all run by the singer and his manager, the wife." On April 14, 2012, before the soundcheck for a show in São Paulo, Brazil, Tate had an argument with the other members about the firing of his family. This confrontation became heated, leading to Tate retaliating by throwing over the drum kit, throwing several punches and physically assaulting and spitting on Rockenfield and Wilton. Over the course of the band's next three shows, Wilton, Rockenfield, and Jackson felt that Tate continued to misbehave and they came "to the conclusion that they can no longer work or perform with Mr. Tate." They called a band meeting on June 5

Lawsuit

On June 12, Tate and his wife filed a lawsuit in a Seattle court against his former bandmates, claiming that he was illegally fired from the band. and a statement from both parties was released on April 28, 2014.

Frequency Unknown and Operation: Mindcrime (2013–2017)

Following his firing and while awaiting the outcome of a settlement or court ruling deciding who would ultimately gain access to the name Queensrÿche, Tate announced his own lineup using the name "Queensrÿche" on September 1, 2012, via his official Facebook page.

Until Tate lost the brand Queensrÿche in April 2014 to his former bandmates, his group were promoted by their booking agent under the name "Queensrÿche Starring Geoff Tate the Original Voice". The lineup would originally feature Rudy Sarzo, Bobby Blotzer, Glen Drover, and two of his former bandmates from the band Myth, Kelly Gray and Randy Gane. Drover left the band on November 23, 2012.

With this lineup, Tate released the album Frequency Unknown under the Queensryche name on April 23 via Deadline Music, a sub-label of Cleopatra Records. It was co-written, produced and mixed in 6 weeks by Jason Slater and mastered by Maor Appelbaum, but Billy Sherwood was later hired to remix the album, "[as it] seems there are sonic issues with the previous versions". Several days later, however, Sherwood pulled out of the project, citing scheduling issues. The work was subsequently spread out over at least four remixers, because of the deadline that had to be met. "Cold", the first single off Frequency Unknown, was released on April 3, 2013.

The band embarked on an "Operation: Mindcrime Anniversary Tour" on April 6, 2013, celebrating the album's 25th anniversary. predominantly touring the American Southwest.

Following his farewell tour as Queensrÿche, Tate renamed his band to Operation: Mindcrime after the 1988 Queensrÿche album of the same name. In 2015, John Moyer, Brian Tichy, and Scott Moughton became full-time members following the departures of both Sarzo brothers. Their debut album, The Key, was released on September 18, 2015.

Solo work (1985–present)

thumb|Tate in Germany, Tribe Tour 2004

In 1985, Tate participated in the famine relief collaboration Hear 'n Aid. In 2002, Tate released an eponymous solo album on Sanctuary Records. Around this time, he shaved his long hair, in solidarity with a close family member who was battling cancer until her death. On November 6, 2012, Tate released his second solo record on InsideOut Music, entitled Kings and Thieves.

Other activities

Tate stars as the narrator and killer in the found footage horror movie The Burningmoore Incident. It was released direct-to-video on March 4, 2013. Tate is scheduled to score the music to the in-production crime movie Fallen Moon.

Tate is a wine enthusiast. He started making wine at age 14, explaining: "I was a boy scout and you could get a merit badge if you created a beverage or a food product and I made dandelion wine, which wasn't very good but definitely sparked my interest and got me started on that passion." The passion for wine further developed when Tate was in Queensrÿche: "I have been collecting wine seriously since the band first got signed back in 1983 and we were touring the world. I'd make special arrangements to leave at a certain point of the tour and take off and head into the wine regions. I started to become even more interested in how it was made and how grapes were grown and which grapes grew best where and that type of thing."

Controversy

Since 2012, Tate has attracted some controversy, mostly in part to the circumstances surrounding the split with Queensrÿche (when his bandmates, guitarist Michael Wilton, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield fired him from the band and replaced him with then-Crimson Glory vocalist Todd La Torre).

Tate attracted negative attention for spitting on and physically assaulting Wilton and Rockenfield before and during a show in São Paulo, Brazil, on April 14, 2012. On the subject, Tate commented: "Some actions that I have become very normal with as a performer are getting scrutinized and manipulated to paint a picture of me [to make me look like a bad guy]." He accused the uploader of the video showing this footage to have manipulated the footage to make it appear as though he threw it, as he insists that he accidentally dropped it while trying to take pictures of the fan and of himself.

Tate has commented on these controversies in relation to the Queensrÿche lawsuits, saying: "I guess that's the nature of being in a lawsuit. Now you have to watch what you say, and trust that who you are talking to does the right thing, you know, and push the information out in the way that it happened. And not try to construct something different, you know?" In 1996, he married his current wife, Susan. She and Tate used to be vegans. She is also the manager for Tate's solo career. Stepdaughter Miranda has also run Queensrÿche's fanclub. Guitarist Parker Lundgren joined the band of Tate's solo project in the summer of 2008, while dating Miranda. In February 2009 he joined Queensrÿche, and on July 18 married Miranda, but they divorced about half a year later. Late 2009 and early 2010, Miranda was a go-go dancer with the Queensrÿche Cabaret. Daughter Emily sang a duet with her father on the song "Home Again" on the 2009 Queensrÿche album American Soldier and the ensuing tour, at age 12. In 2013, Miranda and Emily sang backing vocals on a re-recording of "Silent Lucidity" for the album Frequency Unknown.

Tate has an interest in acting and enjoys motorcycling and sailing.

In June 2022 Tate had an open heart operation in Germany.

Discography

Studio albums

  • Geoff Tate (2002)
  • Kings & Thieves (2012)
  • Operation: Mindcrime III (2026)

with Queensrÿche

  • Queensrÿche (EP) (1983)
  • The Warning (1984)
  • Rage for Order (1986)
  • Operation: Mindcrime (1988)
  • Empire (1990)
  • Promised Land (1994)
  • Hear in the Now Frontier (1997)
  • Q2K (1999)
  • Tribe (2003)
  • Operation: Mindcrime II (2006)
  • Take Cover (2007)
  • American Soldier (2009)
  • Dedicated to Chaos (2011)
  • Frequency Unknown (2013) [Sole album by Geoff Tate's Queensryche]

with Operation: Mindcrime

  • The Key (2015)
  • Resurrection (2016)
  • The New Reality (2017)

with Sweet Oblivion

  • Sweet Oblivion (2019)
  • Relentless (2021)

Guest appearances

  • "Stars" (from the compilation album, Hear 'n Aid) (1986)
  • "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (from the compilation album, Butchering The Beatles: A Headbashing Tribute) (2006)
  • "Silver Bells" (from the compilation album, We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year) (2008)
  • "Summer Wind" (from the compilation album, SIN-Atra) (2011)
  • "The Oath" (from the KISS compilation album, A World With Heroes: A Kiss Tribute for Cancer Care) (2013)
  • "Seduction of Decay" (from the Avantasia album, Ghostlights) (2016)
  • "Invincible", "Alchemy", "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (from the Avantasia album, Moonglow) (2019)
  • "Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5)" (from the tribute album, Still Wish You Were Here - A Tribute to Pink Floyd) (2021)
  • "Scars" (from the Avantasia album, A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society) (2022)
  • "Vilified" (from the Art of Anarchy album, Let There Be Anarchy) (2024)
  • "Here be Dragons" (from the Avantasia album, Here Be Dragons) (2025)

Soundtrack appearances

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" style="width:15em;"| <br/>Title<br/><br/>

! scope="col"| Release

! scope="col"| With

! scope="col"| Soundtrack

|-

! scope="row"| "Prophecy"

| 1988

| rowspan="3"|Queensrÿche

| The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

|-

! scope="row"| "Last Time in Paris"

| 1990

| The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

|-

! scope="row"| "Real World"

| 1993

| Last Action Hero

|}

References