GEOFF TATE BIOGRAPHY
Geoff Tate (born Jeffrey Wayne Tate on January 14, 1959, in Stuttgart—then part of West Germany) is an American singer and songwriter who first rose to prominence as the frontman of the progressive metal band Queensrÿche. He later changed his first name to Geoffery or Geoffrey.
With Queensrÿche, he achieved commercial success through the landmark albums Operation: Mindcrime (1988) and Empire (1990). Recognized for his extraordinary vocal range, Tate was ranked fourteenth on Hit Parader’s list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time and voted No. 2 on That Metal Show’s top five hard rock vocalists of the 1980s. In 2012, he won the Vegas Rocks! Magazine Music Award for “Voice in Progressive Heavy Metal,” and in 2015, he placed ninth on OC Weekly’s list of the 10 Best High-Pitched Metal Singers.
Following his farewell tour with Queensrÿche, Tate renamed his band Operation: Mindcrime, in homage to Queensrÿche’s best-known album.
Born to American parents—his mother’s family hailing from New Orleans—Tate and his family moved to Tacoma, Washington shortly after his birth. From an early age, he showed a keen interest in music, particularly symphonic works. After graduating from high school in 1977, he enrolled at Tacoma Community College but left after a year to focus on his burgeoning musical career.