Queensryche Ownership Battle Finally Comes To A Conclusion
Queensryche Ownership Battle Finally Comes To A Conclusion
April 29, 2014
Nearly two years after Queensryche fired Geoff Tate, the lawsuit between the singer and his former bandmates has come to an end. According to terms of the settlement Queensrcyhe will continue with singer Todd LaRorre, while Tate will be unable to continue under the Queensryche banner.
“We wanted to let Queensryche fans around the world know that an amicable settlement has been reached between Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield, Michael Wilton and Geoff Tate with regard to the future of the Queensryche name,” said the participants in the lawsuit through a joint statement. “According to the agreement, original Queensryche members Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton along with recent members, Todd LaTorre and Parker Lundgren, will now be the sole entity recording and touring as Queensryche, performing selections from their entire musical catalog that spans over 30 years of material. Original Queensryche lead singer Geoff Tate will continue to record, perform and pursue a variety of other creative endeavors and, as part of the agreement, will have the exclusive rights to perform ‘Operation: Mindcrime I’ and ‘II’ in their entirety as a unique performance. Both sides wish each other well and are excited about what the future holds. We want to thank the fans for standing beside us through this ordeal and look forward to sharing our music with you for years to come.”
“I think it’s great. I’m very happy that it’s over and done and we can all move on with our lives,” Tate told Billboard regarding the lawsuit’s conclusion. “It’s been a long, bitter two years, I’ll tell you. I’m glad it’s over.”
“We’ve been trying to work something out for months and months and months, and it’s like any kind of lawsuit, it’s just slow going,” Tate continued. “But finally I think the realization that going to court over the whole thing was going to be a huge nightmare and huge financial mess for everybody that [we] really started to look at it more seriously and realistically. It’s pretty similar to the Pink Floyd settlement where one group got the name and Roger Waters got “The Wall.” It’s very similar to that. I retain “Operation: Mindcrime” and everything revolving around that, and they got the name, so it’s a win-win for everybody.”
Immediately after the settlement Tate announced he would be performing his farewell tour as ‘Queensryche’ beginning in late July. For the forthcoming tour, Tate’s version of Queensryche will be performing all the hits along with some rarities to celebrate the music he’s enjoyed making over the past thirty years. Although the name will change, the line-up of stellar musicians performing with tate after this ‘farewell’ tour is expected to remain the same.
Tate explained that he is allowed to tour under the Queensryche banner one last time. “We’re both allowed to do all of our pre-contracted dates as they were advertised, so once those dates are over then it all changes. I think my last date as Queensryche is September 1, August 31, something like that.”
“I’m just really happy to be done with it all, and I think the other side is probably happy as well so we can turn the tide in this episode in our lives and move on to nicer things,” concluded Tate. “The whole experience was such a betrayal and so negative that I’m really ready to get past it, not think about it anymore, and it doesn’t really bear looking back on in my mind right now. That’s the last thing I want to do is think about it some more. I think just, I’m ready to move on and do something different. And this is a great launching point to do that from, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Courtesy of sleazeroxx.com