GEOFF TATE: QUEENSRŸCHE Reunion Would Only Happen 'If Everybody Really Needed Money'

Geoff Tate says that a reunion of QUEENSRŸCHE's classic lineup would only happen if all the members of the band "really needed money."

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. 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.

Speaking to the syndicated radio show "Noize In The Attic", Tate was asked if he could envision himself one day playing with his former bandmates again. He said: "I suppose so. I suppose that if everybody got in a room… The only reason to get together is for the money. That's the only reason. So, if everybody really needed money and wanted to get together and bury the hatchet, so to speak, and sit in one room and say, [adopts faux tearful tone] 'Gosh, I'm really sorry I treated you that way.' You know, maybe then we could work toward some sort of resolution, but I haven't seen any attempt by anybody to do that, so I'm not holding out… holding my breath. [But] I'd never say never. I might get to a point where I really need the money. It's nice to have that little back-up plan. [Laughs]"

You can listen to the full Tate interview below.

Tate previously described his time in QUEENSRŸCHE as "a strange, strange sort of relationship." He told The Metal Gods Meltdown: "We weren't really friends, you know — we were business associates. We had a wonderful entity that we shared called QUEENSRŸCHE, but it wasn't an equal sort of partnership as far as involvement goes. You know, so there wasn't a real camaraderie amongst everybody in the band… From my perspective and my involvement, it wasn't an emotional sort of brotherhood kind of thing that some people might think existed. That wasn't my reality with them."

Tate's replacement, Todd La Torre, told Metal Wani last September that QUEENSRŸCHE is "sounding better than it did for over ten years" now that he is fronting the band. He added: "The fans have certainly voiced that opinion. That's my opinion, and that's a lot of opinions we hear every night. And the energy of the other members of the band is way healthier, way happier with [Geoff] gone and me in the band. And that's just the facts. There's no stifled creativity, and there's no kind of leader and followers, if you will, in the band. We all talk and try to make decisions the same, and it's very democratic. I'm never gonna tell Michael Wilton that his guitar riff is too heavy, for example, and that had happened in the past. The band is way happier, and I think that it's evident when you watch a live show — not [a clip on] YouTube, but really go to a show and feel what's happening and see what's happening. These guys are happy again and they feel like it's a rebirth of the band and that those dark clouds are well behind them."

QUEENSRŸCHE has released two albums thus far with the ex-CRIMSON GLORY frontman — 2013's "Queensrÿche" and 2015's "Condition Hüman".