Following a two-year-long legal dispute, the members of Queensryche have reached an out of court settlement over rights to the band’s name.
Both sides have issued the following joint statement:
"We wanted to let Queensrÿche fans around the world know that an amicable settlement has been reached between Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield, Michael Wilton and Geoff Tate with regard to the future of the Queensrÿche name.
According to the agreement, original Queensrÿche members Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton along with recent members, Todd LaTorre and Parker Lundgren, will now be the sole entity recording and touring as Queensrÿche, performing selections from their entire musical catalog that spans over 30 years of material.
Original Queensrÿche lead singer Geoff Tate will continue to record, perform and pursue a variety of other creative endeavors and, as part of the agreement, will have the exclusive rights to perform ‘Operation: Mindcrime I’ and ‘II’ in their entirety as a unique performance.
Both sides wish each other well and are excited about what the future holds. We want to thank the fans for standing beside us through this ordeal and look forward to sharing our music with you for years to come."
The Grammy-nominated, progressive heavy-metal band - which has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide since the early 1980s - split into two separate, acrimonious camps nearly two years ago. A lawsuit resulted in a King County Superior Court ruling that each side could use the same name until the case went to trial or was settled.
Both versions of the group confused the rights issues further last year when they each released new albums with references to the original brand.
“Geoff Tate’s Queensryche” issued “Frequency Unknown”, while the Todd La Torre-led version of the band put out a self-titled record simply billed as “Queensryche.”
According to Wilton, the agreement calls for Queensrÿche corporate assets to be evenly divided among himself, Jackson, Rockenfield and Tate. Both sides say they are relieved to settle the dispute and look forward to moving on.
“It’s the rebirth of Queensrÿche and the way it used to be,” Wilton told the Seattle Times. “We’re rebuilding the Queensrÿche name.”
Tate will do a brief Queensryche “farewell” tour this summer before launching a new chapter his career.
See also:
VIDEO: Queensryche joined by Glen Drover in Toronto
Queensryche parts ways with Geoff Tate
VIDEO: Queensryche members debut as Rising West
Queensryche members denied access to band’s social media to promote new group
Search Queensryche at hennemusic
