Adam Lambert says touring with the brilliant members of Queen has been an education. Photo by Karen Butler/UPI
May 1 (UPI) --Adam Lambert says he is learning a lot -- and not just about music -- from his super-smart Queen bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor.
"I heard through the grapevine, 'Oh, they are very intelligent.' Everyone goes, 'Brian May has a doctorate. He is a real genius with space and astronomy.' And things like that and Roger also has a doctorate, so they are very intelligent, which can be very intimidating sometimes," Lambert, 35, told reporters during a roundtable interview in New York on Monday. "They read books and books and books, and they know things that I don't care about. Like politics. But being with them and having conversations about various topics has been enlightening. I learn a lot. It's great. It's the college I didn't go to. Queen College.
"And, at Queen College, there's a couple of things I've taught them, too, or continue to teach them," he laughed.
Best known for their songs "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Somebody to Love," "We Are the Champions" and "Under Pressure," Queen was formed in 1970.
Lambert said that even after four years he hasn't gotten over the thrill of replacing former lead singer, Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991 at age 45.
"It's still such an honor to be standing in for Freddie, who is a big hero of mine. In the beginning, it was sort of daunting because I knew that fans would be sensitive about it," Lambert said. "I didn't know if they would accept me doing it and I'm really lucky that things have worked out the way they have. And one of the things we discovered early on was just talk to the audience about it. I'm one of them. I'm a fan and, so, I get to be onstage sort of as one of them, which is sort of an abstract idea, but I think that when they get it, they're like, 'Oh, yeah.' So, that's been really cool. The shows have been amazing. We've gone all around the world."
Lambert's current tour with Queen will continue in North America through August.
