Brian May and Adam Lambert live on stage in action
The “Queen + Adam Lambert Tour” of 2017 will begin June 23 in Glendale Arizona according to Ticketmaster. Those interested in tickets should probably purchase as soon as possible. Queen will play in only 25 American cities this year so the tickets could go fast.
Adam Lambert became Queen’s lead singer in 2012, mostly because Lambert is so similar in sound and in spirit to the late Freddie Mercury. Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor feel very fortunate to have him.
Freddie Mercury’s legacy weighed heavily on the shoulders of young Adam Lambert at first. It is a rather daunting responsibility to stand where a legend once stood and presume to sing his songs. Adam told the Telegraph he felt that impossible responsibility powerfully.
”Freddie is like a myth, how do you live up to that?”
Adam Lambert always admired Freddie Mercury and loved Queen. He knows what Mercury meant to the band and to the world. Lambert told Rolling Stone Freddie Mercury was an incredibly tough act to follow.
“In the beginning, I was pretty intimidated by that. I tried not to let it show. Can I handle all this? Am I going to be able to do it justice? Is the audience going to accept me? Is the band going to accept me?”
Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor do accept Adam Lambert. Brian May went so far as to tell the Telegraph Lambert was a “gift from God.” Adam is also a huge hit with the crowds as well.
Adam Lambert has been touring with Queen since 2012, and he’s getting a great response from fans.
The early Freddie Mercury of Queen. [Image by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]
Freddie Mercury, who served as Queen’s Front man from 1970 until his passing in 1991, had an incredible voice and a singularly unique stage presence. It was not a matter of just getting another singer, not for Queen.
Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor had adopted Paul Rogers as a lead singer, but although Paul Rogers was an incredible singer, as May and Taylor well appreciate, Rogers had his own style and it was far from Freddie Mercury’s style. Still, Paul Rogers stayed with Queen for five years. Brian May explained to Rolling Stone.
“[Paul Rogers is] one of our favorite singers, [but] he’s a blues song singer – one of the very finest in the world.”
Freddie Mercury was one of a kind, but Adam Lambert somehow manages to match Freddie note for note.
Adam Lambert was a Queen fan and strongly identified with Freddie Mercury. Mercury inspires Lambert’s performances in which he seems to embody the legend more than himself at times. Adam almost seems to channel Mercury.
Backstage too, Taylor reportedly finds Adam Lambert’s voice and personality very similar to Freddie Mercury’s. The two apparently would have found much in common, but Adam was born too late and Mercury was taken too early for the two of them to have met.
Adam Lambert with Queen. [Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
Adam Lambert told Rolling Stone Queen and Freddie Mercury inspired his interest in rock music.
“What I always loved about Queen was that I could see what Freddie and the band were exploring, and I could identify with that. I started falling in love with rock & roll.”
Freddie Mercury’s legendary persona inspires Adam Lambert’s performances in which he seems to embody the legend more than himself at times. Adam almost seems to channel Freddie Mercury on stage, perhaps because Mercury was a role model for Lambert.
“When I look at the history of rock & roll, Queen is the band that resonated the most with me: ‘That’s me, that’s my life.'”
Adam Lambert of Queen is the first to admit he is no Freddie Mercury, rather he wants to keep some small part of Freddie Mercury alive, with his performances, as he explained to the Telegraph.
“I’m not Freddie. I’m not trying to be Freddie, or compete with Freddie. But I do feel some kinship and I’m seizing this opportunity to try and make his music come to life again.”
Queen’s Adam Lambert embodies the legend that was Freddie Mercury, with his incredible voice and stage presence.
