Both sides of the long-running Queensryche legal wrangle have spoken about their future plans after they finally reached a settlement on the band name.
As reported by TeamRock this week, an agreement was reached over the future use of the band name which will see original singer Geoff Tate eventually perform under the name Geoff Tate: The Voice Of Queensryche following a farewell tour this summer.
Under the agreement Wilton, Jackson, Rockenfield, LaTorre and Parker Lundgren will be the sole band recording and touring as Queensryche.
Wilton tells the Seattle Times that the agreement will see Queensryche assets divided among himself, Jackson, Rockenfield and Tate. He adds: “It’s the rebirth of Queensryche and the way it used to be. We’re rebuilding the Queensryche name.”
As part of the agreement, Tate will have the exclusive right to perform the albums Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II.
Tate, who heads out on a farewell tour this summer under the name Queensryche Starring Geoff Tate, says that Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield bought the name from him. He adds: “Mindcrime was my thing and my story, so it’s appropriate that I keep that. It’s sort of similar to the Pink Floyd situation where Roger Waters retained The Wall.
“I’m very happy that it’s over and done and we can all move on with our lives. 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. But finally I think the realisation 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.”
A 2012 lawsuit resulted in a judge allowing two versions of the band to exist at the same time – one fronted by original Tate and a second by Todd LaTorre, backed by longstanding Queensryche members Jackson, Rockenfield and Wilton. Tate’s version of Queensryche saw him perform with a new line-up of musicians.