GEOFF TATE Says His Open-Heart Surgery Was “An Eye-Opening Experience”

Speaking to Australia’s Heavy, former Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate discussed about his aortic valve replacement the 64-year-old underwent last summer.

Tate remarked: "Well, all my life I'd been very fortunate to be very healthy until I wasn't. And all of a sudden I needed to have open-heart surgery, which I had in June. And I'd never been in the hospital before. So, yeah, it was quite an eye-opening experience for me to experience that part of… I don't know how to explain it, really. It just wiped me out for a couple of months. I was in pretty bad shape for a while there. But I had a fairly quick recovery. It's been six or seven months, and I feel a hundred percent better. I feel strong and I feel like I'm in my late 30s. Before I was having a hard time walking up a flight of stairs. Now I'm running up the stairs — no problem."

Tate celebrated his 64th birthday on January 14 during his concert at Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Check out our show review here.