QUEENSRŸCHE's GEOFF TATE: 'I Was Never A Metalhead'

August 27, 2002

QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Geoff Tate has admitted in a recent interview that he was never into metal music and he cited ULTRAVOX and THOMPSON TWINS as two of his primary influences during the band's formative years — a far cry from the traditional metal movement that QUEENSRŸCHE was instrumental in launching in the years that followed.

When asked by the Tablet Newspaper about the fact that QUEENSRŸCHE helped lead the traditional/power metal movement during the late 1980s, Tate gave the interviewer a "mildly irritated" look and responded: "Power metal? Ya know, we were just in the right place at the right time. We got our foot in the door and latched on and took it for a ride. I was never a metalhead, I just dug [former QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Chris] DeGarmo and the guys I was working with. Chris and I used to jam to THE BEATLES more than heavy metal."

At the end of the interrogation, when the interviewer boasted loudly that she got a "scoop" by getting the singer to admit that he wasn't a "metalhead", Tate apparently stated, "I thought that was obvious. Isn't that clear by the music?" "Well, yes, but in 1984?" the interviewer asked incredulously. Geoff replied, "I thought it was obvious even then. I was into ULTRAVOX and THOMPSON TWINS in 1984. I wouldn't exactly call Rage For Order metal. No, I was never a metalhead."

During the same conversation, Tate commented on the aborted THREE TREMORS project (which was also set to feature IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson and ex-JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford) and revealed that coordinating the schedules of the individuals involved wasn't the only reason that the proposed collaboration eventually got shelved.

"It started out really as just dinner talk, standing around the catering tables during the tour, bouncing around ideas," Geoff said. "But when it came to the reality of it, we realistically couldn't commit to the six months that it would take to do it justice. I also felt there was a lack of inspiring ideas. I didn't want to push the same ol' thing. I've definitely grown out of that music, those same chunka chunka riffs. We were definitely not in the same creative headspace."

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