1980–1983: From the Mob to Queensrÿche The foundations for Queensrÿche began in the late 1970s, when guitarist
Michael Wilton started the band Joker with friends in 1978, and they were joined by guitarist
Chris DeGarmo in 1979. In 1980, Wilton met drummer
Scott Rockenfield at
Easy Street Records in Seattle, and they formed the band Cross+Fire together on July 18 that year. They
covered songs from popular heavy metal bands such as
Iron Maiden and
Judas Priest, and practiced in the garage of Rockenfield's parents Before long, DeGarmo and bassist
Eddie Jackson joined Cross+Fire, and the band name was changed to the Mob, after the
Black Sabbath song "The Mob Rules". In need of a singer for a one-off performance at a local rock festival, they recruited Babylon frontman
Geoff Tate. After Babylon broke up, Tate performed a few shows with the Mob, but left because he was not interested in performing heavy metal covers. In 1981, the Mob put together sufficient funds to record a demo tape. Still without a singer, Tate was once again enlisted to help, much to the disapproval of his then-current band, Myth. The group recorded the four songs "
Queen of the Reich", "Nightrider", "Blinded", and "The Lady Wore Black", the latter of which Tate had written the lyrics for. For an entire year, they brought their demo to various labels and were rejected by all of them. The Mob were ultimately offered a management contract by Kim and Diana Harris, the owners of Easy Street Records. However, as Tate remained committed to staying in Myth, the band reluctantly searched for another singer. "ryche" is a Middle English cognate to "Reich" which, like the German word, can mean "realm", "kingdom" or "empire". The name "Queensrÿche" is written with a
metal umlaut over the letter "y". As the band later joked: "The umlaut over the 'y' has haunted us for years. We spent eleven years trying to explain how to pronounce it." The umlaut is used on all of Queensrÿche's releases, except for their 2011 album,
Dedicated to Chaos.
1983–1987: The Warning and Rage for Order Kim Harris sent the demo tape and a band photo to a friend who wrote for
Kerrang! magazine, resulting in a glowing review. After the EP garnered international praise, receiving much
airplay and selling an unusual number of copies for a small independent release, Brodey offered Queensrÿche a
contract with EMI, spanning 15 years and encompassing seven albums. The band's first full-scale U.S. tour (in support of this album) was as the opening act for
Kiss on their
Animalize tour and
Iron Maiden on their
Powerslave tour. They also opened for Dio and
Accept on their tours for
The Last in Line and
Metal Heart respectively.
Rage for Order, released in 1986, introduced a much more polished look and sound for Queensrÿche, while the band was pressured by their management to adopt an image more closely associated with
glam metal. A video was filmed for the song "Gonna Get Close to You", written and originally recorded in 1984 by
Dalbello. The song "Rage for Order" was written and demoed for the album, but it was not included on the final release. The main riff from this song was worked into an instrumental piece played during some shows on the tour in support of this album, and eventually morphed into the track "Anarchy-X" on their next album. Queensrÿche supported
Rage for Order with a tour that included opening for
AC/DC,
Bon Jovi,
Ozzy Osbourne and
Ratt, and playing with other bands such as
Black 'n Blue,
Fates Warning,
Gang Green,
Keel and
Raven.
1988–1993: Operation: Mindcrime, Empire, and mainstream success In 1988, Queensrÿche released
Operation: Mindcrime, a narrative
concept album that proved a massive critical and commercial success. The album's story revolved around a junkie named Nikki, who is brainwashed into performing assassinations for an underground movement. Nikki is torn over his
misplaced loyalty to the cause and his love for Mary, a reformed hooker-turned-nun (vocals by
Pamela Moore), who gets in the way. The band's
progressive metal style was fully developed on this album. The band toured through much of 1988 and 1989 with several bands, including
Def Leppard,
Guns N' Roses and
Metallica. The album gained critical acclaim and achieved gold status, The release of
Empire (1990) brought Queensrÿche to the height of their commercial popularity. It peaked at No. 7 and sold more than three million copies in the United States, more than their previous four releases combined (it was also certified silver in the UK). The
power ballad "
Silent Lucidity", which featured an orchestra, became the band's first Top 10 single. The arrangements on
Empire were more straightforward than the band's previous efforts. A live album, recorded May 10–12, 1991, was released later that year as
Operation: Livecrime. The tour also included an
MTV Unplugged appearance at Warner Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles on April 27, 1992.
1994–1997: Promised Land, Hear in the Now Frontier, and DeGarmo's departure After taking time off to deal with the
burnout resulting from the "Building Empires" tour and with other personal issues, the band released
Promised Land in October 1994 (a companion
CD-ROM, featuring a
Promised Land-themed game and other interactive features, was released in March 1996). It was a dark and personal album, reflecting the mental state of the band at the time. Although the album debuted at No. 3 and was eventually certified platinum, it was not the commercial success
Empire had been. As with many other heavy metal and hard rock acts, Queensrÿche's commercial fortunes waned with the surge in popularity of genres such as
alternative rock and
grunge. Queensrÿche released their sixth full-length studio album,
Hear in the Now Frontier, in March 1997, to mixed critical and fan reception. The album debuted at No. 19 but quickly vanished from the charts.
Toby Wright, who produced
Alice in Chains'
self-titled 1995 album, was brought on board for this effort as engineer. The result was a sound that was more dry and stripped-down than the band's previous material. Compounding the disappointing sales of the album were issues that plagued the band on the subsequent tour. Less than one month into the
Hear in the Now Frontier tour, Tate became seriously ill and the band was forced to cancel concert dates for the first time. In an even bigger blow, the band's longtime label,
EMI America Records, went bankrupt during the same period. Queensrÿche was forced to use its own money to finance the remaining two months of the tour. The band played a handful of December shows in South America because of contractual obligations, and it was during this time, late 1997, that founding member Chris DeGarmo announced he was leaving Queensrÿche. However, his departure was not announced to the public until January 24, 1998. Members of the band have later cited burnout and a desire to pursue interests outside of Queensrÿche as reasons for his departure. For example, Rockenfield has said: "He wanted to pursue other things. He felt like he had done what he wanted musically in his life, and wanted to move on." After leaving Queensrÿche, DeGarmo began a full-time career as a professional
business jet pilot. His involvement with music has since been sporadic. He remains highly regarded in the eyes of Queensrÿche's fan base.
1997–2004: Q2K, side projects, and Tribe DeGarmo was replaced by producer
Kelly Gray on rhythm guitar. Gray's connections with Queensrÿche went back to the early 1980s, when he was the guitarist for Myth, which was also the band Tate fronted prior to joining Queensrÿche. Gray had previously worked as a producer for bands such as
Dokken and
Candlebox. Queensrÿche recorded one studio album with Gray,
Q2K from 1999, which was also the first album for their new label,
Atlantic Records. Musically,
Q2K bore little resemblance to the progressive metal of the band's past, and also displayed a similar stripped-down sound as
Hear in the Now Frontier. Tate has described
Q2K as a continuation of the experimentation of
Hear in the Now Frontier. Declining popularity forced the band to tour in clubs and theaters, rather than in the larger arenas and outdoor amphitheaters where they played before. Following the
Q2K tour, Rockenfield and Gray formed the
side project Slave to the System with band members from
Brother Cane and recorded a
self-titled album. After the release of a
greatest hits collection in 2000, Queensrÿche embarked on another tour, this time in support of
Iron Maiden. This enabled the band to play
Madison Square Garden for the first time. Unhappy with the lack of support they felt they received from Atlantic Records, Queensrÿche moved to
Sanctuary Records in 2001. In July of that year, the band performed a handful of dates at the
Moore Theatre in Seattle, Washington. The shows were recorded and released in September 2001 as
Live Evolution, the band's second live album. In 2001 and 2002, Tate worked on his
self-titled first solo album, which was released on June 25, 2002. Gray was fired from the band in May 2002, which according to Rockenfield was "because of [his] personal
abuse habits and ongoing problems". The band entered the studio as a quartet in the spring of 2003 to record their eighth full-length album, while a compilation of greatest hits was released as part of the
Classic Masters series on March 9, 2003. In April, they announced they had been joined by Chris DeGarmo, although his future status with the band was uncertain. In July, Queensrÿche released its first and only album of new material on the Sanctuary label,
Tribe. DeGarmo, who played on and co-wrote four songs, neither officially rejoined the band nor took part in the supporting tour. Queensrÿche found a replacement for Gray in
Mike Stone, who had previously worked on Tate's solo album. Stone accompanied the band on the
Tribe tour as second guitarist to Wilton's lead, though he never was a full member of the band. In June 2003, Queensrÿche launched a co-headlining tour featuring another progressive metal band,
Dream Theater. The two bands alternated the opening and closing slots, and ended the shows by playing a handful of songs together.
Fates Warning was the special guest for the tour. A recording from this tour was released to CD and DVD as
The Art of Live, which included two covers performed with Dream Theater. Over the course of the five album releases ('Q2K', 'Tribe', 'Operation: Mindcrime II', 'American Soldier' and 'Dedicated To Chaos') after DeGarmo left, the band had gone through three rhythm guitarists, five record companies and four management firms. Q-Prime had taken over management duties before 'Operation: Mindcrime'; they were eventually replaced by Ray Daniels during the 'Q2K' sessions, who was then subsequently replaced by Lars Sorensen. Following the
Tribe tour, Lars Sorensen was dismissed, and Geoff Tate's wife Susan was promoted to band manager, after having worked as an assistant manager for the band since 2001. In this period, Wilton spent time recording the
self-titled album of his side project
Soulbender.
2004–2007: Operation: Mindcrime II In July 2004, Queensrÿche announced its plans to record a follow-up to 1988's
Operation: Mindcrime. To generate fan interest in the upcoming album, the band hit the road in the fall of 2004 with the "An Evening With Queensrÿche" tour. The tour opened with a shortened greatest hits set, followed by a revised production of
Operation: Mindcrime with live actors and video;
Pamela Moore reprised her role as Sister Mary. The band played a pre-recorded version of "Hostage," a track from the upcoming album, through the PA as an encore after the end of their set. The second leg of the tour began in early 2005. Before embarking on a third leg in the fall of 2005, Queensrÿche toured with
Judas Priest across North America, playing an hour-long set consisting mostly of the band's older works and one song from the soon-to-be released sequel, entitled "I'm American".
Operation: Mindcrime II was released internationally on March 31, 2006. The album was Queensrÿche's first for their new label,
Rhino Entertainment, to which it signed in 2005.
Ronnie James Dio provided the vocals for Dr. X, the villain. The album debuted at No. 14, the highest chart position for a Queensrÿche album since 1997. The group embarked on a headlining tour in support of the album, joined by Pamela Moore in her role as Sister Mary. The tour featured performances of both
Mindcrime albums in their entirety. Dio appeared at the Gibson Amphitheatre show in
Universal City, California, to perform his vocals as Dr. X on "The Chase", and was shown on a video screen at the other shows. Dio's appearance was recorded, and included as an extra on the 2007 DVD release
Mindcrime at the Moore.
2007–2010: Take Cover and American Soldier On August 9, 2007, the band announced that it would release a new greatest hits album, entitled
Sign of the Times. The album was released on August 28, 2007, and a special collector's edition featured a bonus disc including various demos and a new song, "Justified", featuring Chris DeGarmo on guitar. On November 13, 2007, the band released an album of covers entitled
Take Cover. The album contains covers of songs by
Queen,
U2,
The Police,
Black Sabbath,
Peter Gabriel, and
Pink Floyd, and was the band's second release for Rhino Records. On February 3, 2009, Stone announced the end of his association with Queensrÿche to focus on his side project
Speed-X, although court declarations later revealed Geoff and Susan Tate fired him for "making too many grand demands", without discussing their decision with the other band members.
Parker Lundgren (formerly of The Nihilists and
Sledgeback, who also played on Tate's solo tour and was in a relationship with Tate's stepdaughter Miranda)
2010–2012: Dedicated to Chaos in Finland, June 2011. From left to right: Eddie Jackson, Geoff Tate, Scott Rockenfield, Michael Wilton. In late 2009 and early 2010, the band toured for The Queensrÿche
Cabaret. In November 2010, Queensrÿche played several shows for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. While at a U.S. military position, explosive shells began falling on the base as the result of a bomb attack. Contrary to some news reports stating that some band members were injured, Tate has said in several interviews that he was misquoted and none of the band members suffered any injuries. The band's twelfth studio album,
Dedicated to Chaos, was released on June 28, 2011, on
Roadrunner/Loud & Proud Records, to which the band had signed on August 25, 2010. The album was a drastic departure from the band's previous efforts, featuring a greater emphasis on the bass and drums, and with minimal guitar work. The album was released to mixed reviews and was the lowest charting full-length album for the band in its history. According to Tate, Queensrÿche was already writing new material for a follow-up to
Dedicated to Chaos as of June 2011, and were discussing re-recording
Operation: Mindcrime in late 2012, so they could do something special for a 25th anniversary edition.
2012–2014: Rising West, confrontation, split and lawsuit with Geoff Tate , Brazil, in April 2012 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. 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. 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 While Tate continued working on an upcoming solo album,
Kings & Thieves, and a subsequent tour, Queensrÿche's other band members started the
side project that eventually became Rising West. Wilton explained that: "Originally this was deemed as a side project, because we were told by our management that we were not going to do anything for the next year so hey, we have to survive." Still in search of a frontman for the at-the-time unnamed project, Wilton recommended
Todd La Torre to his bandmates, the then-frontman of
Crimson Glory, whom he had met several months prior at the
NAMM Show in January 2012. Their encounter had resulted in a songwriting collaboration on, among others, a song named "Don't Look Back", which in 2013 would make its way onto Queensrÿche's self-titled album. The band heard some of La Torre's demos on YouTube, but was later renamed "Rising West" at the suggestion of Jackson. The band was enthusiastic about this addition to the original name, because "Rising West" reflected the feeling that the project was "something really fresh" for everyone involved; it additionally referred to the band members living on the
West Coast, flowed better as a band name than simply "West", and [in deemphasizing the WEST acronym] acknowledged that Parker Lundgren [whose name was not included in the acronym] would also be participating in the project. Their first rehearsal together went very smoothly, according to Wilton: "we blasted through 18 to 20 songs and everybody was amazed from the professionality, the musicianship and tone of Todd's voice."
2014–2017: Condition Hüman On November 7, 2014, the band opened a
pledge drive through
PledgeMusic that allowed fans to pre-order their next album, which would be their second with La Torre and their 14th overall. The campaign used the motto "Building The Empire", and offered regular pledge rewards such as CDs, exclusive access and equipment, but also an investment opportunity for $50,000 in Queensrÿche Holdings, LLC to accredited investors. The campaign page revealed that recording would likely take place between December 1, 2014, and February 28, 2015, and that the album was expected to be ready for release in late spring or early summer 2015. The campaign page also included a video of band members and crew discussing the band's desire to approach their fans more proactively, with their attorney Thomas Osinski remarking: "this is famously a band that kept to itself, and in this new era of openness, they want to join with their fans [and] more so after the last few years of challenges they've been through". Three months later, guitarist
Michael Wilton spoke to interviewer Jennifer Kessinger at the 2015 Welcome to Rockville Festival about the songwriting progress of the album, which was being recorded at the Uberbeatz studio in
Washington with producer
Zeuss. Wilton said that "it is everything that a fan of Queensrÿche would want from the band" and stated that in more recent concerts and festivals, fans had expressed their satisfaction with the band's current line up. Wilton revealed in a later interview that they had finished recording the album, and it was in the process of being mixed and mastered before being sent off to their record label Century Media Records. However, he did not reveal a title or release date. On July 17, 2015, the band announced that a clip of a new song titled "Arrow of Time" would be released to fans who participated in their PledgeMusic campaign. The song was the opening track of the new album, titled
Condition Hüman. On August 3, the album's track list and artwork were revealed. Todd La Torre stated that "The artwork depicts a beautiful innocence surrounded by the darkness of a jaded unpredictable world." The new album was released on October 2, 2015. After the new album's release, the band embarked on a tour of the United States in early 2016, and a European tour in September of that year. In October 2016, the band performed in Australia and the Far East. On March 28, 2017, the band announced Rockenfield would take paternity leave to care for his newborn son, and that
Kamelot drummer
Casey Grillo would fill in his spot for upcoming live dates, Rockenfield has not returned to the band and has filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. In August 2018, guitarist
Mike Stone returned for a couple of months filling in for Parker Lundgren who had to take care of "personal things".
2017–present: The Verdict, Digital Noise Alliance and next album On May 1, 2017, Todd La Torre revealed plans for the band's next studio album. He said that approximately 15 songs were ready at that point and that they could be characterized by a faster tempo than those on the previous album. The band hoped to enter the studio in September 2017, for an early 2018 release via Century Media. In July 2018, in a Facebook post offering the forthcoming album for early orders, the band announced that the album would be released in 2019. On October 29, 2018, the band revealed that the album was entitled
The Verdict and released it on March 1, 2019. According to Blabbermouth.net, Todd La Torre was confirmed as playing drums on the album. In November 2019, Wilton stated that he wanted touring drummer Grillo to play on the next Queensrÿche album. In July 2021, Parker Lundgren announced he had left the band to pursue "other business ventures". Mike Stone filled in for the subsequent tour, and later rejoined as a full-time member. In January 2022, Queensrÿche confirmed they had entered the studio with
Zeuss reprising his role as producer, and begun recording their sixteenth studio album, with a tentative late 2022 release date. Grillo confirmed that he was going to play drums on the album. On May 20, 2022, the band announced that the album was titled
Digital Noise Alliance and that it would be released on October 7. The album was received well in Europe, reaching the Top 20 in Germany and Switzerland as well as the Top 40 in the Netherlands. In the US, however, it became their first album to miss the charts entirely. Guitarist Michael Wilton has stated that the band has been demoing new material while on the road, and is hoping to enter the studio to record the follow-up to
Digital Noise Alliance sometime in 2025. ==Tri-Ryche logo==