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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.
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 21, 2009
Classic Rockers Featured on American Idol Finale
I don’t write much about American Idol here, but I will admit to being a pretty faithful viewer of the show. The fact that last night’s finale dished up a good share of classic rock certainly made it interesting for me, particularly the appearance of both Queen (or half of them, at least) and KISS.
Rod Stewart also showed up to perform “Maggie” for the crowd packed into the Nokia Theatre.
Seeing Adam Lambert with KISS was interesting, and it was a role he seemed to ease into quite naturally. My favorite moment however, was when he joined with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen. I liked the fit there even better than with KISS, despite the winged glam costume Lambert donned for the occasion. According to what one might take away from the video below, perhaps even May and Taylor think it was a good fit!
I don’t recall them saying how close the numbers actually were for the final vote, but it would be interesting to know. I think a lot of people expected Lambert to walk away with the win, myself included. Even Kris Allen seemed shocked by the outcome, and said something to indicate that Lambert deserved to win.
I agree with that statement. Kris Allen really came into his own during the final weeks of the competition, but I thought Lambert was a solid and consistent performer all throughout. It may have been Simon Cowell, or one of the other judges that made a comment about judging the contestants based on the entire season, and that’s definitely the way I feel about it as well.
Lambert is a natural-born performer and I think he bested Allen on just about every level. In the long run it won’t matter all that much. I suspect Lambert will have ahead of him a musical career that will eclipse Allen’s, much like we have seen in the past with the success of runners-up Clay Akin and Chris Daughtry.
Perhaps events like last night’s are a big part of Idol’s whole appeal. Just when you think you have things figured out, the results prove how wrong you were. There are undoubtedly those who were expecting the Allen win and are not surprised at all. Obviously, he was well-liked enough to take home the big prize.
Although an awful lot of what we see on TV is fiction, one thing that struck me about Lambert and Allen was their obvious admiration and respect for each other. I think they both conducted themselves in a way that showed their genuine down-to-earth image of themselves. I imagine it would be easy for someone to get a big head (“Bikini Girl,” anyone?) after being on stage with a few thousand fans screaming your name and reaching out to touch you.
It’s not often we get to see true humility on stage during a competition of that magnitude, but I think that’s exactly what we saw last night. It’s hard not to think of them both as winners.
July 21, 2008
Alice Cooper No Fan of Television Talent Shows
Striking out against programs such as American Idol and X Factor (a U.K.-based talent show), veteran rocker Alice Cooper says that they do not put enough effort into looking for new rock talent and says these programs are seeking out only artists that he refers to as “totally disposable.”
Saying that these types of programs are looking for the types of acts that will wind up in Las Vegas, Cooper also adds that bands from the 1960’s and 1970’s are still getting plenty of radio airtime today, but he does not think that will be the case for the artists that are being discovered on talent shows.
In other news from the Alice Cooper front, he recently revealed that he has always had a desire to play a villain in a James bond movie. Cooper sees himself as a natural choice since he already looks like a “baddie.”
Cooper goes on to say that Bond has never come up against an adversary that could match him and feels that is a role he could step into. “He needs someone the audience believe might actually beat him,” Cooper says.
I think Alice Cooper may have a point here. Lord knows he has enough practice wearing spooky make-up and acting like a villainous weirdo on stage in front of millions of fans. I’d say give the chap a go at it!
