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Classic Rock News And Views
June 15, 2010
Brian May Stirring up Controversy at Home
Queen guitar legend Brian May as become involved in an issue that’s making headlines in the United Kingdom. May’s name has been popping up on the radar over the past month or so as a result of his animal rights activity. Now I’m not sure what he’s been up to can be classified as “animal rights,” or not, so don’t quote me on that.
What I am more certain of is May’s stance in opposition to what he considers cruelty to animals.
From my perch here in the colonies, it appears that it might have all started back around the end of May when a dead fox cub was found with a rope tied around one of its legs. May offered up a £1,000 (about $1,500) reward for information 
that would lead to those responsible for the act.
May is known for formation of a group called “Save Me,” an organization that promotes the “decent treatment of animals” according to the BBC. The dead fox was found by a member of another organization called “Wales Against Animal Cruelty,” who decided to offer up a reward that May decided to contribute to.
Since then, the fox debate seems to have gradually escalated. Fox hunts, as far as I know, were a British tradition for many years, but it appears the methods employed by traditional fox hunters was outlawed in 2004 by the passage of a law called “The Hunting Act.”
There is now some alarm among groups like “Save Me,” due to their anticipation of an effort to repeal the law. Things really heated up when a couple of children were attacked by a fox, and Brian May reportedly posted a message on his website declaring that the report of an attack was untrue.
“Fox attacks babies? Sure! And monkeys will fly… out of my butt. Ha ha. And I suppose there is proof?!!!,” May wrote, according to The Sun.
May is now under fire after evidence suggests that the report of a fox attacking 9-month-old twins, Lola and Isabella Koupparis, in true. One of the girls is hospitalized, while the other was treated for serious injuries to her arm. May has since said that he has “huge sympathy for the family.” Both twins are expected to recover.
The authorities in the area of the Koupparis’ home have trapped at least three foxes since the attack, and plan to leave the traps in place until the end of the month.
There was no word on whether or not rabies played a role in the attack, but that is usually the cause of fox attacks that we hear about in the northeast U.S. They are indeed rare, but we do hear of them from time to time. It is not considered normal behavior for a fox to attack a person.
Although May appears to have realized his mistake in publicly doubting the attack, the British press is not showing any signs that they are finished with the issue just yet. A recent story in The Independent is titled “Who the hell does Brian May think he is?”
The story quotes May as threatening to leave the U.K. over the current state of affairs there. The author of the article suggests that an appropriate response to May might go something like this: “Bri, animals are lovely and all, and most of this country loves them disproportionately, as you do. But if you feel this is worth leaving the country over, don’t let anyone stop you now.”
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.
