Queensryche consists of Eddie Jackson (bass), Geoff Tate (vocals), Kelly Gray (guitar), Michael Wilton (guitar), Scott Rockenfield (drums).
Queensrÿche (pronounced queens-rike) is a progressive metal band formed in the Seattle, Washington suburb of Bellevue in 1981. The band has released eight studio albums and, as of 2006, continues to tour and record.
Chris DeGarmo ( guitar) and Michael Wilton (guitar) had played in cover bands, and then recruited Geoff Tate ( vocals), Eddie Jackson ( bass guitar) and Scott Rockenfield ( drums) to write and perform original music. This lineup began rehearsing and was soon making a demo.
The demo tape was widely circulated, and Queensrÿche released Queen of the Reich ( 1983) on their own 206 Records label shortly thereafter. The band then signed to EMI and re-released Queen of the Reich as Queensrÿche to moderate success, peaking at #81 on the Billboard charts. This was followed by two more moderately successful albums, The Warning ( 1984) and Rage For Order ( 1986).
In 1988, Queensrÿche released Operation: Mindcrime, a narrative concept album that proved a massive critical and commercial success. The album's story revolved around a junkie who is drugged into performing assassinations for an underground movement; the junkie ("Nikki") is torn over his misplaced loyalty to the cause and his love of a reformed hooker-turned-nun ("Mary") who gets in the way. "Mindcrime" has often been mentioned by critics alongside other notable concept albums like Pink Floyd's The Wall and The Who's Tommy.
Empire ( 1990), which spawned the hit "Silent Lucidity," was just as popular, and also charted in the United Kingdom. By the time the group released Promised Land ( 1994), Queensrÿche was no longer hip, as grunge music and alternative rock dominated the nation's musical consciousness, but thanks to the band's loyal following, Promised Land nevertheless became the band's highest-charting album at #3 on The Billboard 200. Their follow-up, Hear in the Now Frontier ( 1997), received mixed reviews. DeGarmo soon left to become a commercial airline pilot and was replaced by Kelly Gray for Q2K ( 1999).