QUEENSRŸCHE has issued the following update:

"Mike Stone has decided he will not be touring with Queensrÿche this spring. We will miss him. He is a wonderful player and has contributed to our lives musically and spiritually. We wish him the best and hope to see him succeed in everything he chooses to participate in."

He adds this statement: "After much consideration, I will not be joining Queensrÿche on the 2009 American Soldier Tour. I feel now is the time to focus on other musical endeavors, including my new band SPEED X with Nick Catanese of BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. I would like to thank all of the Queensrÿche fans around the world for being nothing less than amazing to me during my time with the band. You have treated me like gold, and I will never forget it. It has been an honor to be a part of the Queensrÿche family, and I wish Geoff, Michael, Scott and Eddie nothing but the very best."

Queensrÿche envisions war through the eyes of a soldier with the band's twelfth studio release, the epic concept album American Soldier. The ambitious album encompasses a dozen songs inspired by numerous interviews with veterans conducted by Geoff Tate, the group's singer and chief songwriter, who was intent on telling their story using their words. After speaking with soldiers who served in various conflicts-from World War II to Iraq-Tate turned their firsthand experiences from the frontlines into an unflinching musical examination of the life of a solider and the consequences of war. American Soldier will be available from Atco/Rhino on March 31st.

Tate, Michael Wilton (guitar), Ed Jackson (bass) and Scott Rockenfield (drums) recorded the album in 2008 over the course of nine months. The idea for American Soldier, Tate says, came from hearing stories from fans that are veterans, as well as his own father, who served in both Korea and Vietnam. "My father was a career military man, but until very recently he never spoke about what he went through. I think that reticence is true of a lot of veterans, which means most people never truly understand what it means to be a soldier at war. Hearing what he and some of our fans have endured made me want to share their stories with the world. This is an album about the soldiers, for the soldiers, as told by the soldiers themselves."

Those stories resonate at the heart of AMERICAN SOLDIER, imbuing each song with vivid details about both the emotional and physical impacts of war, evoking war zone battles ('Middle Of Hell'), sacrifice ('The Killer'), loss ('If I Were King'), the longing for home ('Remember Me'), and adjusting to society after returning from war ('Man Down!').

Tate recorded many of his interviews with the soldiers, and some dialogue from these discussions is mixed into several of tracks, allowing the soldiers' own words to help tell their compelling stories. The band also brought a few of the soldiers into the studio with them to record vocals. The verses of the track 'Unafraid' feature the voices of Chris Devine, a Vietnam veteran, and Sean Lenahan, a veteran of Somalia, recalling their war experiences while Tate provides the anthemic chorus. Also making a guest vocal appearance is Tate's 10-year-old daughter Emily on the gripping duet 'Home Again', which examines the emotional toll of war from two perspectives, with Geoff singing from the soldier's point of view and his daughter singing from the viewpoint of the child left behind.

Making the album, Tate says, was an enlightening process. "I was surprised to learn how little has changed through the generations. I spoke with a Vietnam vet whose experience wasn't all that different from a soldier who fought in Somalia almost 30 years later. But what surprised me the most was how antiwar most soldiers are. To me, that makes their sacrifices even more moving."

Soon after the release of American Soldier, Queensrÿche will launch an extensive spring tour of the U.S., with international dates to follow later in 2009. The shows will be presented in three suites, with the band performing sets from American Soldier, Rage For Order, and Empire. The first date of the tour will be April 16th at Snoqualmie Casino in the band's hometown of Seattle.

The complete tracklist of the album is as follows: 'Sliver', 'Unafraid', 'Hundred Mile Stare', 'At 30,000 Ft.', 'A Dead Man's Words', 'The Killer', 'Middle Of Hell', 'If I Were King', 'Man Down!', 'Remember Me', 'Home Again', 'The Voice'.

Queensrÿche's US tour schedule is as follows:

April

16 - Snoqualmie, WA - Snoqualmie Casino
17 - Snoqualmie, WA - Snoqualmie Casino
18 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
19 - Chico, CA - Senator Theatre
22 - Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues
23 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
24 - Los Angeles, CA - House Of Blues
25 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
26 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
28 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theater
29 - Kansas City, MO - Voodoo Lounge @ Harrah's
30 - Milwaukee, WI - Northern Lights Theater

May

1 - Milwaukee, WI - Northern Lights Theater
3 - Walker, MN - Northern Lights Casino
5 - Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection
6 - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
7 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
8 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
9 - Mt. Clemens, MI - Emerald Theatre
10 - Greensburg, PA - Palace Theatre
12 - Verona, NY - Turning Stone Casino
13 - Stamford, CT - The Palace Theater
14 - Sayerville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
15 - New York, NY - Nokia Theatre
16 - Atlantic City, NJ - House Of Blues
17 - N. Myrtle Beach, SC - House Of Blues
19 - Tampa, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
20 - Lake Buena Vista, FL - House Of Blues
21 - New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues
22 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues
23 - San Antonio, TX - Hemisfair Park
24 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
29 - Albuquerque, NM - Kiva Auditorium
30 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge

June

4 - San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
5 - Kelseyville, CA - Konocti Harbor