Taking the operatic vocal stylings of Judas Priest's Rob Halford and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson to whole new levels, Queensryche's Geoff Tate remains one of heavy metal's most talented and technically accomplished singers. Born on January 14, 1959 in Stuttgart, West Germany, Tate and his family relocated to Tacoma, Washington soonafter. Tate became interested in music at an early age, especially symphonic works (additionally, his family always sang around the house, while his aunt was a talented opera singer). But Tate initially focused on a career in football, until a knee injury prevented him from pursuing it any further. Soonafter, Tate began to sing in local high school rock bands, including one such group called Tyrant. After attending Tacoma Community College for a year, Tate took a job with the Washington State Search and Rescue Team, a group that was trained to assist in "the recovery of crashed planes and lost people," mainly in the Rocky Mountain region not far from Tacoma. Tate continued to sing with other bands during this time, including such local outfits as Myth and the Mob, the latter of which would become Queensryche by the early '80s.
Mixing progressive rock with heavy metal, Queensryche built a regional following, and even toured with such national acts as Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, and Dio, solely on the strength of an independently released, self-titled EP from 1983. Tate and Queensryche soon signed on with EMI Records, resulting in such further releases as 1984's The Warning and 1986's Rage for Order. It was also during this time that Tate lent his vocal talents to Ronnie James Dio's Hear N' Aid project, which featured many of the day's top names in heavy metal. The resulting song and album (both titled Stars) helped raise money to fight worldwide starvation. But it wasn't until 1988's sprawling concept album, Operation: Mindcrime, that the group broke through to the mainstream. Touring for over a year (and opening sold-out tours for such big names as Def Leppard and Metallica) led to the album enjoying a long life on the album charts, eventually earning platinum certification. Queensryche scored an even bigger hit with their next release, Empire, which scored a top ten hit single with the ballad "Silent Lucidity."
Tate and Queensryche took a much needed break from recording and touring throughout the early '90s, during which time musical tastes changed dramatically, thanks to (ironically) several younger bands that also hailed from Queensryche's hometown of Seattle. Queensryche never scaled the same commercial heights again, but still managed to retain a sizeable and dedicated following with such albums as 1994's Promised Land, 1997's Hear in the Now Frontier, and 1999's Q2K. The early 21st century saw Tate contribute vocals to a cover of the Queen classic, "Somebody to Love," for the tribute album Stone Cold Queen: A Tribute, in addition to issuing his very first solo album in 2002, a self-titled affair that featured musical styles usually not previously associated with the Queensryche frontman. Tate has also been rumored for some time to be involved in a new group, the Three Tremors, which is to also include the aforementioned vocalists for Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford. Despite each singer confirming the project in the press, no word has been given as to when an album will surface. ~ Greg Prato
, All Music Guide
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