What is Geoff Tate's Net Worth?
Geoff Tate is a German-born, American singer-songwriter who has a net worth of $4 million. Geoff Tate is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Queensrÿche. With the band, he released such albums as "Operation: Mindcrime," "Empire," "Promised Land," "Tribe," and "American Soldier." After being fired from Queensrÿche amid tumultuous circumstances in 2012 and losing the rights to the brand name in a 2014 settlement, Tate started performing with his own lineup under the name Operation: Mindcrime.
Early Life and Education
Geoff Tate was born on January 14, 1959 in Stuttgart, West Germany to American parents. He was raised in Tacoma, Washington back in the United States. After graduating from high school in 1977, he attended Tacoma Community College for a year.
Career Beginnings
Tate began his music career with a local cover band called Tyrant, featuring Adam Bomb and Scott Earl. After that, he played with the band Babylon, and later joined the metal band Myth as the lead vocalist and keyboardist.
Queensrÿche
After leaving the group Babylon, Tate performed a few shows with a band called the Mob. He returned to the Mob in 1981 to record a demo tape. However, because the name "The Mob" was not available for commercial use, the band decided to name itself Queensrÿche, a modified version of the first song on its demo tape, "Queen of the Reich." The group went on to release its self-titled debut EP in 1982. After Queensrÿche signed with EMI, the EP was re-issued in 1983. The year after that, the band released its first studio album, "The Warning." That was followed by "Rage for Order" in 1986. Queensrÿche had its commercial breakthrough with its third studio album, "Operation: Mindcrime," which came out in 1988. A rock opera concert album, it reached number 50 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the charting singles "Eyes of a Stranger" and "I Don't Believe in Love." Queensrÿche had an even greater commercial hit in 1990 with the album "Empire," which peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200 and launched the Grammy Award-nominated hit single "Silent Lucidity." Queensrÿche's next studio album, "Promised Land," became the band's highest-charting yet when it reached number three on the Billboard 200 in 1994. The band's final two studio albums of the decade were "Hear in the Now Frontier" (1997) and "Q2K" (1999).
Queensrÿche released its eighth studio album, "Tribe," in 2003. The group followed that in 2006 with "Operation: Mindcrime II," a sequel to its earlier hit album. Queensrÿche's subsequent albums were "Take Cover" (2007), "American Soldier" (2009), and "Dedicated to Chaos" (2011). In 2012, following a heavily publicized backstage altercation before a concert in Brazil – in which Tate physically attacked his band mates for firing his stepdaughter and wife from the management team – Tate was fired from Queensrÿche. In response, he and his wife, who had served as the band's manager, filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination. They also sought an injunction to prevent anyone from using the Queensrÿche name in the meantime. A settlement was reached in 2014 that denied Tate the permission to continue performing under the Queensrÿche brand name. However, before the settlement was reached, Tate released the album "Frequency Unknown" with his own version of Queensrÿche. After that, he embarked on a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the album "Operation: Mindcrime." Following the tour, Tate renamed his band Operation: Mindcrime in tribute to the album.
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Operation: Mindcrime
With his new band Operation: Mindcrime, Tate released the album "The Key" in 2015. It served as the first installment in a concept album trilogy that would be completed by 2016's "Resurrection" and 2017's "The New Reality." The trilogy focuses on matters of virtual currencies, stock trading, and Internet banking. During the promotion of "The New Reality," Tate announced that Operation: Mindcrime would not release any more albums in the future.
Solo Career
In 2002, Tate released a self-titled solo album through Sanctuary Records. Unlike the heavy metal sound of Queensrÿche, it explored such genres as electronica and dance pop. A decade after that album, Tate released his second solo album, "Kings & Thieves."
(Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
Other Endeavors
Beyond his music career, Tate is an oenophile, and has been making wine since he was 14 years of age. He has given several interviews with the magazine Wine Spectator, and has his own brand of wine called Insania. In other career endeavors, Tate starred as the killer in the direct-to-video horror film "The Burningmoore Incident" in 2013.
Personal Life
Tate was married to his first wife, Donna, from 1985 to 1989. He was subsequently wed to a woman named Sue from 1990 to 1996. Tate married his third wife, Susan, in 1996. He has three daughters and one stepdaughter in total.
