Geoff Tate Addresses Idea of Reuniting With Queensryche

We are living in the golden age of reunions and one high-profile one would certainly be the return of Geoff Tate in Queensryche. In a new interview, the singer addresses the likelihood of those chances and reflects on what the band was able to accomplish together before a messy 2012 split.

“Well, I think that we had 30 good years, which is phenomenal,” Tate tells Cassius Morris when asked if he has any desire to create with his former bandmates, including guitarist Chris DeGarmo who left music entirely.

Recognizing Queensryche’s comparatively prolific career, the singer continues, “Most bands make a couple of records. How many records did Guns N’ Roses make? Three? [Laughs] We had 30 years of making music and we gave it a really good run. We had a lot of success. I think we created some really memorable albums, some really memorable songs that will outlive us.”

Although Tate’s solo tours are often centered around anniversaries of classic Queensryche albums, it appears he’s content with his own legacy within that group. “I don’t really have a need to go back and try to recapture that with Chris or any of the other guys as well. I feel like it’s time to do other things and to just explore,” he confesses, “And we gave that a great run. It was successful. We did great things. It’s time to do other things now.”

Those “other things” have included quite a lot, so far.

In addition to releasing a 2012 album under his own name, Tate commanded a trilogy under the moniker Operation: Mindcrime, which ran from 2015 to 2017. The singer has also made a guest appearance on three Avantasia albums, joining them onstage at times as well. And, Tate is a member of the Italian melodic metal band Sweet Oblivion, who released their self-titled album in 2019, followed by 2021’s Relentless.

Sweet Oblivion, “True Colors”

Tate’s Past Comments on a Queensryche Reunion

Tate’s most recent comments on a reunion with Queensryche are, for the most part, on par with what he’s said over the past few years.

In 2017, he said that even approaching that idea “would require everybody getting in the same room and actually confronting all the things that were said and all the things that happened. And that is a really big commitment, because there was some really negative stuff that went down.”

Tate tells Morris in that most recent interview that tensions today are more relaxed and, with the passing time, it is “water under the bridge.” He’s also worked on not being as “volatile” when consistently asked if a reunion is in the cards.

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“The money would be the big driving force that would get everybody together,” Tate also said in 2017, insisting, “I don’t need the money, so I’m not really motivated to sit in a room and listen to what I’ve had to listen to with everybody. But, you know, again, never say never.”

The singer mentioned in 2019 that a reunion “would be something that makes sense” and “it would be an interesting thing to do.” He reiterated it would require communication with everyone in the same room.

Three years later, Tate backed off the possibility, saying, “I’m honestly not really expecting that to happen, basically because we’ve been offered just obscene amounts of money to get back together and do one tour. One tour and we’d never have to tour again.” He alleged others in the band had shunned the offer, but Queensryche’s Michael Wilton countered by saying he never saw those offers.

Queensryche, meanwhile, have carried on with singer Todd La Torre, who has now been featured on four albums, the latest being 2022’s Digital Noise Alliance.