Geoff Tate Unveils New Lineup for Geoff Tate’s Queensryche

Geoff Tate's musical aspirations have faced their fare share of stumbling blocks lately. After being ousted from Queensryche, Tate responded by founding his own version of the band, which promptly lost a guitar player and drummer, and saw its keyboard player suffer a heart attack -- but Tate isn't letting any of that stop him from hitting the road with a new lineup.

VVN Music reports that Tate's Queensryche -- which now consists of bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarist Kelly Gray, keyboard player Randy Gane, guitarist Robert Sarzo and drummer Simon Wright -- recently inked a new contract with Cleopatra Records, with plans to release an album later in 2013. Wright takes over for Bobby Blotzer, who has returned full-time to Ratt (another group that had competing lineups on the road at one point), and he sounds pretty enthused about the new gig; the VVN report quotes him as saying, "I'm very much looking forward to being involved in the Queensryche project with Geoff. I've always admired his singing and songwriting and working with Rudy Sarzo again is going to be cool!"

Blotzer will reportedly still be on hand for the band's upcoming recording sessions, which are also slated to include appearances from Ty Tabor of King's X and former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing. Before they release any new music, however, the band will hit the road on its 25th Anniversary 'Operation: Mindcrime' Tour, which should keep them busy through the spring. Have a look at the first leg of dates, listed below.

Queensryche Spring 2012 Tour Dates:

4/06 - West Wendover, Nev.
4/09 - Aspen, Colo.
4/11 - Denver, Colo.
4/12 - Albuquerque, N.M.
4/13 - Las Vegas, Nev.
4/14 - Tempe, Ariz.
4/16 - Tucson, Ariz.
4/17 - San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
4/18 - Agoura, Calif.
4/19 - Solana Beach, Calif.
4/20 - Los Angeles, Calif.
4/21 - San Francisco, Calif.
4/22 - Sacramento, Calif.