Former QUEENSRŸCHE Singer GEOFF TATE Underwent Aortic Valve Replacement

Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate has revealed that he underwent an aortic valve replacement this past summer.

According to NHS, an aortic valve replacement is a type of open-heart surgery used to treat problems with the heart's aortic valve.

The aortic valve controls the flow of blood out from the heart to the rest of the body.

An aortic valve replacement involves removing a faulty or damaged valve and replacing it with a new valve made from synthetic materials or animal tissue.

The 63-year-old musician discussed his health in a new interview with Beneath A Desert Sky. Asked how he is feeling, nearly five months after his operation, Tate said: "I feel really good overall. This might be the first time I'm telling someone in the press what I went to the hospital for. I had a procedure done called an aortic valve replacement in my heart. Long story short, I was feeling very fatigued one day while on tour. It was challenging for me to climb stairs. Anyway, I thought it best to get checked out, and after several tests from my doctor, he indicated that this particular type of surgery needed to be done. I'd say it took around a month [after the surgery] before I started feeling better. Honestly, I could barely walk after it, and I couldn't sing at all. Before this, I'd never been in a hospital in my life."

He added: "I can't say that I'm feeling '100 percent' better, so to speak. However, I'm definitely feeling a lot better now than I was over the summer. Just taking it a day at a time and am grateful to get back on the road."

On July 3, Tate took to his Facebook page to share a photo of him with Dr. Sami Kueri from the department of cardiovascular surgery at the Universitäts-Herzzentrum Freiburg-Bad Krozingen (University Heart Center Freiburg) in Bad Krozingen, Germany, and he included the following message: "All my gratitude to the talented Dr. Sami Kueri for giving me a healthy heart!! Feeling so much better each day!"

In June, Tate said that he would take a few months off the road as he recovered from a medical procedure.

On June 13, Geoff, who fronted QUEENSRŸCHE for 30 years — from the band's inception through 2012 — took to his social media to write: "I am having a medical procedure and my health professionals want me to recover over the Summer. I will be back and rocking South America in January. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the road."

Tate's recent tour celebrated the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE's "Empire" and "Rage For Order" albums.

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. Fellow original QUEENSRŸCHE members Michael Wilton (guitar),Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Eddie Jackson (bass) responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

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

Geoff will embark on a tour in 2023 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of "Operation: Mindcrime".

Photo courtesy of Geoff Tate's Facebook page