Main Menu
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Queen category.
Classic Rock News And Views
Browse: Classic Rock Gear Classic Rock Ringtones Classic Rock Posters
November 9, 2009
Queen Still Considering Work With Adam Lambert
Coming just prior to the release of his new album, Adam Lambert is still being considered by remaining Queen veterans Roger Taylor and Brian May as someone they would like to work with.
After Lambert performed with Queen on the finale of American Idol along with season 8 winner Kris Allen. At the time there was a lot of talk about Lambert joining Queen as their new frontman. With Lambert’s new album, For Your Entertainment, set for release in about two weeks, there has not been as much buzz about the possibility of him joining Queen, but a recent BBC interview with Roger Taylor confirms that working with Lambert is not something that he and Brian May have forgotten about.
Referring to him as “the most phenomenal singer,” and mistakenly calling him “Adam Bolton,” Taylor said that he and May might do something with Lambert in the future. Taylor, obviously quite impressed with Lambert’s abilities, further praised him by saying, “He’s got one of the greatest voices I have ever heard.”
As for referring to Adam Lambert as “Adam Bolton,” I suppose that was probably a simple slip of the tongue. Perhaps Lambert reminds Taylor of someone he knows whose name is Bolton. I know that in my own experience, and for reasons I cannot explain, there are certain people I meet, and for some reason, just cannot help believing that their name is something that isn’t actually their name at all.
At any rate, Lambert seems like a gracious enough guy to not let it bother him too much.
Check out the BBC interview with Roger Taylor below. Unless of course, the BBC decides to file a copyright claim and the YouTube yanks it offline.
July 6, 2009
Brian May Not Happy About Mercury-Jackson Recording Leaks
My earlier report regarding the whereabouts of the recordings made by Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury during the 1980’s may have been a bit premature. It has become apparent that whomever it was that was in possession of them has somehow allowed them to be leaked to the internet. Something that does not sit well with Queen guitarist Brian May.
What’s a little strange is that it appears as if the two songs May makes reference two have been on YouTube for quite some time. I was quickly able to locate both “State of Shock” as well as “There Must Be More To Life Than This” on YouTube, and they have apparently been posted there for three years.
Whether or not May realized that the material was posted that long ago on YouTube or was just venting his frustration during this time when there is so much attention focused on Jackson’s death is not clear. The Queen guitarist was quoted as saying, “The music thieves at work as usual.”
Brian May is also in the news for reasons other than his comments about the Mercury-Jackson material. May was injured during a performance in the U.K. on July 2nd.
May and drummer Roger Taylor were on stage at the Birmingham Hippodrome when the accident occurred. A platform that was used to support Taylor reportedly malfunctioned as it was moving forward and failed to stop before hitting May, resulting in a nasty bruise.
Although May laughed off the incident, it was reported by someone who had seen May’s injury that it was worse than May had admitted. Roger Taylor reports that the accident was no fault of his, but just demonstrates that the show was live and that May is all right.
May and Taylor were on stage as part of a production known as “We Will Rock You,” – a musical that is based on Queen’s greatest hits.
For more on the mishap, visit the Sunday Mercury.
July 2, 2009
Who Knew? A Queen-Michael Jackson Connection
As millions of fans around the world mourn his untimely passing, it has come to light that Michael Jackson had become friends with Queen’s late singer Freddie Mercury during the 1980’s. As described by Brian May, the two met up when Jackson would go to see Queen in concert and the two eventually ended up recording some material together at Jackson’s home.
The recordings have never been released, but there is bound to be a lot of curiosity among fans of Jackson as well as Queen fans about how those tracks came out. There is no word on whether they will ever be heard by the public or who is actually in possession of the recordings at this time.
May also says that the legendary Queen hit “Another One Bites The Dust” may have never achieved its number one status if it were not for Michael Jackson. Having heard the song at one of the group’s shows during “The Game” tour Jackson suggested that it be released as a single. The rest, as the well-worn saying goes, is history.
Jackson’s extraordinary talent was not lost on Brian May. On his personal blog he writes: “I think he qualifies as a great artist; he devoted his whole body and soul to his art. It’s as if, with all the changes he introduced to his body, his art actually became his body and his persona.”
You can read all of Brian May’s comments on his blog at BrianMay.com.
May 23, 2009
Idol’s Adam Lambert As New Queen Frontman?
For me, the moment of the American Idol finale was Adam Lambert singing with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen. I had been wanting Lambert to give “Bohemian Rhapsody” a shot all season, knowing he was much better-suited to pull it off than Michael Johns did during last season. It was a bold move by Johns and he didn’t sound too bad, although I see Lambert as a much better match for Freddie Mercury.
Lambert’s performance with Queen seemed to “click,” and it appears that May and Taylor, as well as Lambert, feel that there may be something worth exploring there.
The appearance of Lambert on Fox’s morning show Fox And Friends was the first indication I saw that there may be talks going on between Lambert and Queen. When pressed about whether he had been talking to Queen about working with them, Lambert said that he had to “plead the 5th” on that subject.
As one might expect, that statement set the rumor mill spinning at full speed. Rolling Stone magazine managed to reach Brian May via e-mail regarding the issue, and although he was not ready to confirm or deny any plans to have Lambert replace recently-departed frontman Paul Rodgers, May responding by saying: “Amongst all that furor, there wasn’t really a quiet moment to talk, but [drummer Roger Taylor] and I are definitely hoping to have a meaningful conversation with him at some point. It’s not like we, as Queen, would rush into coalescing with another singer just like that. It isn’t that easy. But I’d certainly like to work with Adam. That is one amazing instrument he has there.”
Will Adam Lambert end up as the new Queen frontman? In a conference call with reporters, Lambert readily admits that Queen was one of his all-time favorite bands and said he would love to work with them. There surely are a lot of hoops to jump through before we hear any definitive word on whether Lambert joins up with Queen, so it is likely to be a while. He is, however, probably the best candidate for the job that American Idol has yet produced.
In addition to his performance with Queen, Lambert also put on quite the glam-rock show with KISS, which all participants seemed to enjoy as well, but now there is some talk that Gene Simmons has said that Lambert is not well-suited to be a rock singer.
Rolling Stone is reporting that Simmons has posted comments on his personal website that read as follows: “Respectfully, I don’t think Adam is a rock singer. He sounds much more convincing singing ballads and Broadway shows. His voice doesn’t seem to have a ‘rock quality.’ But, I’m sure he’s going to do just fine.”
What’s a little odd is that the link from the Rolling Stone article to Gene Simmons’ personal website is broken, but that could just be a webmaster typo. I visited Simmons’ personal website myself and was able to find that exact quote from Simmons in response to a question about Lambert from a fan.
When questioned later by another reader and asked for a clarification, Simmons responded by saying: “Adam is a great singer. He would be great in Queen. Like Freddie Mercury. But Mercury wouldn’t work in the Stones or KISS. Nor would Mick Jagger work in Queen. Got it?”
I guess what we can take away from that is that Simmons thinks Lambert would be a good rock singer for Queen, but not for KISS or the Rolling Stones. I think Adam Lambert would be OK with that.
May 14, 2009
Queen + Paul Rodgers Part Company
This one isn’t much like the typical rock star departure we so often hear about where a group breaks up or loses a member over “creative differences” or some kind of personality clash. This one appears to be strictly business.
Paul Rodgers, who teamed with Queen back in 2004 will be hitting the road with his old group, Bad Company, for a summer reunion tour.
Rodgers and the remaining members of Queen remain on good terms, and Rodgers does not rule out working with them again some day, mentioning that he would be open to the idea of joining them on stage once again for a charity event or something similar, saying he would be “very much into doing that, for sure.”
After nearly five years, two world tours and an album, Rodgers feels good about what he was able to accomplish with 
Queen and seems especially glad that he was instrumental in providing fans with an experience that was as close to a live Queen event as possible.
Having seen one of their shows on television some time back, it was clear that it was not Rodgers’ intention to bill himself as “the new Freddie Mercury.” Part of the show was a dedication to the late singer, including video footage of him performing with the group before his untimely death in 1991.
The upcoming Bad Company tour, although a bit brief with only ten dates lined up, seems to be a reversal of the comments made by Rodgers last summer when he joined up with Bad Company for a one-night gig at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. A show that was put together to ensure that the group would be able to retain the legal right to be the exclusive owners of the name Bad Company.
At that time, Rodgers indicated that he had no further plans to work with Bad Company and sounded more interested in continuing to work with Queen as well as dedicate some of his efforts to his solo career. Perhaps the guys got along better than they anticipated when they reunited on stage and decided that it felt good enough to do again.
The live DVD of the show from last year at the Hard Rock will be released on August 8, exactly one year after the performance took place.
June 17th marks the start of this summer’s Bad Company tour, which will begin with a show at a familiar venue: The Seminole Hard Rock & Casino. It has been reported that the group will be joined by the Doobie Brothers for select dates.
For more details, visit Billboard.
