Queensrÿche

Cross+Fire and The Mob

The band formed on July 18, 1980 as Cross+Fire, became The Mob in 1981, a cover band playing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs, and took the name Queensrÿche in 1982. The name comes from the song "Queen of the Reich", with the spelling changed from Queensreich to avoid associations with Nazi Germany, and The Mob was unavailable. The first line-up was the guitarists Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton, the drummer Scott Rockenfield and the bassist Eddie Jackson, members aged 17 to 19 who rehearsed in Rockenfield's parents' basement; Geoff Tate, then of Babylon and later Myth, joined for the recording sessions. The Tri-Ryche logo was drawn by Wes Griswold, who also did the EP cover.

The 1982 overnight demo sessions at Triad Studios in Redmond, Washington, over about a week, were paid for by the members, each working at least two jobs. Kim and Diana Harris of Easy Street Records offered management, Kim sent the demo and a photograph to a friend at Kerrang!, which gave it a glowing review, and the Harrises released it as the self-titled EP on their 206 Records. Tate, who at first declined because he did not want to play heavy metal covers, left Myth to join for good.

EMI and the albums

On June 29 and 30, 1983, EMI America's A&R manager Mavis Brodey saw the band open for Zebra in Portland and Seattle and offered a 15-year, seven-album contract. EMI reissued the EP in 1983, reaching 81 on the Billboard 200. The Warning (September 7, 1984) was produced by James Guthrie, with orchestral arrangement by Michael Kamen; Tate said in 2013 that the label took the record out of their hands and ran $300,000 over budget, and that none of them could listen to it. Rage for Order (June 27, 1986) was produced by Neil Kernon and Operation: Mindcrime (May 3, 1988) by Peter Collins, a concept album with Pamela Moore as Sister Mary and Anthony Valentine as Dr. X; Metal Forces's Bernard Doe wrote that it deserves to stand alongside The Who's Quadrophenia.

Empire (September 4, 1990), also produced by Collins, includes "Silent Lucidity" (number nine on the Hot 100, with Kamen's strings), reached number seven in the US and was certified three times platinum. Promised Land (1994) reached number three. DeGarmo left in late 1997. The band has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide and had three Grammy nominations, with no wins.

Since 2012

Tate left the band in 2012, and a settlement in April 2014 left the Queensrÿche name with Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson; Tate kept the right to perform Operation: Mindcrime and Mindcrime II in full. Todd La Torre, of Crimson Glory, became the singer. Queensrÿche (2013), Condition Human (2015), The Verdict (2019) and Digital Noise Alliance (October 7, 2022) followed on Century Media, and Casey Grillo has been the drummer since 2020. Setlist.fm logs more than 240 pages of setlists, with the most recent show in the sources on October 24, 2026 at Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Washington.