In a new interview with Metal From The Inside, ex-QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate was asked if ever gets bothered by the fact that all of his current musical output is always compared to his previous works with his former band. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I suppose it would probably bother me if I really paid attention. I don’t, so… [Laughs] Music is something that I need to do — it’s something that I need to be part of. So I feel just very blessed that I’m given these opportunities to work with different musicians and to be part of creating an interesting musical presentation. And I’m equally grateful for anybody’s interest in it. ‘Cause there’s a lot to choose from, there’s a lot to listen to. And years go by, and people change their tastes in music, and they grow up, or they go look for new things. And I’m just very happy that people are interested in what I’m doing.”
Tate went on to say that he never had any reservations about continuing to perform music that he wrote and recorded with QUEENSRŸCHE. “I’ve always embraced playing my music,” he said. “I can’t imagine not playing those songs in a live situation. And I don’t really have resentment or negative feelings about QUEENSRŸCHE. To me, it was an amazing time. We accomplished a lot of things. We wrote some incredible music and had some amazing tours. I think we’ve definitely left our mark in the metal world. But then again, times change and people move on and do different things. And that’s what I’m doing.”
Geoff has gone back and forth on the subject of a possible reunion with QUEENSRŸCHE, telling The Rock Vault in November 2019 about the prospect of rejoining his former bandmates: “I think that would be something that makes sense, and I think it would be an interesting thing to do, if everybody could get in the same room and actually talk to each other.” However, just eight months earlier, he dismissed the possibility of a QUEENSRŸCHE reunion, telling Greece’s “TV War” that he had “no interest in that. No. Not at all. [I have] absolutely no reason to,” he said. “I don’t need the money. That’d be the only reason to do it. Maybe if they paid me, like, 10 million dollars or something like that. [Laughs]”
He continued: “It was a good thing for a long time, and then it went really bad. And I just don’t want that kind of negativity in my life. My life is so good, and I have such great friends and family. I travel the world and sing songs for a living. I mean, it’s lovely. I have wonderful, positive people in my life, and to go back and be in that negative land again… aargh, I just couldn’t do it. It’s not worth it.”
Tate previously described his time in QUEENSRŸCHE as “a strange, strange sort of relationship.” He told The Metal Gods Meltdown: “We weren’t really friends, you know — we were business associates. We had a wonderful entity that we shared called QUEENSRŸCHE, but it wasn’t an equal sort of partnership as far as involvement goes. You know, so there wasn’t a real camaraderie amongst everybody in the band… From my perspective and my involvement, it wasn’t an emotional sort of brotherhood kind of thing that some people might think existed. That wasn’t my reality with them.”
Last month, Tate announced around a dozen U.S. dates in late summer and fall as part of a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE‘s “Empire” and “Rage For Order” albums.
For more information, including ticket links and links for meet-and-greet passes for purchase to meet Geoff and his band after the live shows, visit www.geofftate.com.
Early last year, Tate was forced to postone a number of his tour dates due to the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across the globe.
Tate spent the first two months of 2020 performing the QUEENSRŸCHE albums “Rage For Order” and “Empire” in their entirety on the “Empire 30th Anniversary Tour”, which kicked off in January 2020 in Norway. Prior to that, Geoff celebrated the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE‘s “Operation: Mindcrime” album on European and U.S. tours.
Tate‘s post-QUEENSRŸCHE band OPERATION: MINDCRIME released three albums over three years as part of a trilogy: “The Key” (September 2015), “Resurrection” (September 2016) and “The New Reality” (December 2017).
In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012.
Tate was replaced in QUEENSRŸCHE by former CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.
