List of Queensrÿche band members

Queensrÿche is an American progressive metal band formed in 1982 from Bellevue, Washington. The bands original and most famous lineup consisted of guitarists Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo, drummer Scott Rockenfield, bassist Eddie Jackson, and lead vocalist Geoff Tate. The band currently consists of Wilton and Jackson alongside rhythm guitarist Mike Stone (from 2003 to 2008 and since 2021), lead vocalist Todd La Torre (who replaced Tate in 2012) and drummer Casey Grillo (who has been touring with the band since 2017 and recording since 2020).

1980–2012
The foundations for Queensrÿche began in the late 1970s. 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 which they called "The Dungeon" and fitted with egg cartons as acoustic cladding. 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.

Because the name "the Mob" was not available, their manager urged them to choose a different name. They reportedly ran out of ideas, and decided to name the band after the first song on their demo tape, "Queen of the Reich". The spelling "Queensreich" was modified to prevent association of the band with Nazism; Kim Harris sent the demo tape and a band photo to a friend who wrote for Kerrang! magazine, resulting in a glowing review. On the strength of the growing buzz that surrounded them in both the United States and Europe following this review, the Harrises released Queensrÿche's demo tape as a self-titled EP on their independent label 206 Records in 1983. After the EP garnered international praise, receiving much airplay and selling an unusual number of copies for a small independent release, Tate agreed to leave Myth and become Queensrÿche's permanent lead singer. This line-up released six studio albums, including the concept album Operation: Mindcrime (1988) and Empire (1990) which included highly successful power ballad "Silent Lucidity".

In late 1997, co-lead guitarist Chris DeGarmo left the band to "pursue interests outside of Queensrÿche". DeGarmo was replaced by producer Kelly Gray on rhythm guitar. Gray's connections with Queensrÿche went back to the early '80s, when he was the guitarist for Myth. Gray had previously worked as a producer for bands such as Dokken and Candlebox, Queensrÿche recorded one studio album with Gray, Q2K from 1999. 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. 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 July 2004, Queensrÿche announced its plans to record a follow-up to 1988's Operation: Mindcrime which was released internationally on March 31, 2006. 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. Wilton recorded both lead and rhythm guitar on the band's eleventh studio album, American Soldier, released on March 31, 2009. The concept album regards war from the perspective of those on the front lines of American wars from World War II through to the present, especially the Iraq War. 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) replaced Stone on the ensuing tour.

In a band meeting on April 12, 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. According to Wilton, the reasons were that "the last 3 years, basically it just came to a point that we didn't have a voice in the band anymore. It was all run by the singer and his manager, the wife." 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. This confrontation became heated, leading to Tate retaliating by knocking down the drum kit, 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 (some sources say June 6 ). Tate withdrew from this conference call, after which the other band members voted to "consider Geoff Tate expelled from the band" and "continue to use the Queensrÿche name with a new lead singer", prompting Tate to take legal action.

2012–present
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 project would initially be called "West", which stood for the four members of the band: "Wilton, Eddie, Scott and Todd", but was later renamed "Rising West" at the suggestion of Jackson. This name change acknowledged that Parker Lundgren [whose name was not included in the acronym] would also be participating in the project.

Meanwhile, Tate, along with his wife, moved forward with the lawsuit they had filed against his former bandmates, claiming unlawful termination and seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent both himself and the remaining bandmembers from using the Queensrÿche name until the issue was resolved. While the Washington state superior court denied this motion on July 13, 2012, they also denied a counter-motion for a preliminary summary judgment filed by the defense (Wilton, Jackson, and Rockenfield); collectively, these rulings enabled both parties to use the brand "Queensrÿche" until a court ruling or settlement further clarified the matter. Subsequent to this temporary verdict, both entities toured with independent bands under the "Queensrÿche" moniker between June 2012 and April 2014, with one incarnation consisting of the remaining Queensryche members fronted by La Torre, and the other featuring Tate with his own lineup. In addition, both versions of the group released studio albums during this time, with Geoff Tate's incarnation releasing Frequency Unknown in April 2013, and the La Torre-fronted lineup releasing a self-titled album two months later. Tate's version of the band was announced in October 2012, it included rhythm guitarist Kelly Gray (who had been a member of Queensryche), lead guitarist Glen Drover (Megadeth), keyboardist Randy Gane (Myth with Tate and Gray), bassist Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot) and drummer Bobby Blotzer (Ratt). Drover later left in November and was replaced by Sarzo's brother Robert (Quiet Riot, Hurricane), and Blotzer was later replaced by Simon Wright (AC/DC, Dio, UFO).

A settlement was reached on April 17, 2014, and a statement from both parties was released on April 28, 2014. The statement announced that Tate lost the brand Queensrÿche to Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson, who together with La Torre and Lundgren are to be "the sole band recording and touring as Queensryche", while former vocalist Tate solely has the right to play Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II in their entirety "in unique performances". On May 5, 2014, a press release was released through Wilton's Facebook page, further clarifying the specifics of the settlement.

Tate was allowed, according to the settlement, to perform with his own line-up under the name 'Queensrÿche' until his tour concluded on August 31, 2014, after which his group announced to adopt the official name 'Operation: Mindcrime'. Following this, the Sarzo brothers did not continue their association with the band.

In a January 2015 interview, lead vocalist Todd La Torre revealed that in February they would "hopefully" start tracking their next album. 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.

In the weeks leading up to the release of Condition Hüman the band toured North America with German hard rock veterans Scorpions. 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. 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".

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 Queensryche 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, it was later released on October 7, 2022.