Queensrÿche ( ) is an American heavy metal / progressive metal band formed in 1981 in Bellevue, Washington. The band has released nine studio albums and an EP and continues to tour and record.

Queensrÿche has sold over 20 million albums worldwide including over 11 million albums and videos in the United States.

In the early ‘80’s, Queensrÿche (along with Fates Warning ) fused 70’s progressive rock with the screaming guitars and “heaviness” of 80’s metal to form a new genre: progressive metal . Dubbed “Thinking Man’s Metal” Queensrÿche influenced many of the later bands that would expand the genre even further - including Psychotic Waltz and Dream Theater . From The Mob to Queensrÿche (early 1980s) The foundations for Queensrÿche began in the early 1980s. Guitarist Michael Wilton a