Former QUEENSRŸCHE Singer GEOFF TATE Explains Why He Started Getting Tattoos Later In Life

In a new interview with Become A Guitarist Today, former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate spoke about his recent decision to get a small tattoo on his life hand. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I figured, what the hell? I'm 64 years old. [Laughs] I might as well. I'm not gonna get a job in a bank at this point in my life. And also, I think it's kind of… I don't know… Something about it is very attractive, to record the moment, where you're at, when you do that, when you mark your body with a symbol or a picture that sort of helps you celebrate that moment. I think that's important in life."

Tate also talked about the other tattoo he got not too long ago, saying: "The back of my head, I got a pretty large tattoo there, and that didn't hurt at all. It was just annoying for a few hours. But the pain level was nothing. My tattoo artist said that it's typical that your head doesn't have so many nerves in it, I guess. And maybe that's a good thing. [Your head] is so exposed and you're always bumping it into things, so I guess over time we've evolved to not have a lot of nerve endings there."

Tate celebrated his 64th birthday last Saturday night (January 14) during his concert at Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Tate's "Big Rock Show Hits" tour kicked off on December 1. Tate and his international band — featuring guitarists Kieran Robertson from Scotland, James Brown from Ireland and Alex Hart from Boston along with bass player Jack Ross from Scotland, drummer Danny Laverde from Cincinnati and keyboardist Jason Ames — hit 28 cities across the United States, including Cleveland, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Denver and Nashville, on an initial tour leg that culminated on Geoff's birthday.

Just five days after their last U.S. show in January, the band will embark on the "Empire" 30th-anniversary trek that begins in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on January 19, then heads off to Europe for two weeks, quickly followed by three shows in Australia. After "the land down under," they'll return to Europe for a variety of shows that will last through mid-March. They'll return in early June for another extensive European tour.

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012.

Tate was replaced in QUEENSRŸCHE by former CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.

Geoff will embark on a tour later this year to celebrate the 35th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's classic album "Operation: Mindcrime".