Saturday Conversation: Queen And Adam Lambert On Their Upcoming North American Tour

The partnership of Queen and vocalist Adam Lambert has been a successful touring act since 2011. But this upcoming North American tour finds the combo feeling like this their first run as they told me.

Unable to tour North America the last four years, due to COVID and with Rock And Rol Hall Of Fame guitarist Brian May undergoing a series of serious health issues, the band wasn’t sure if they’d be back out in the States. So when the group takes the stage October 4 in Baltimore for a month-long run that wraps November 12 in Los Angeles, they will do so with the excitement of a new act, as opposed to a band that has been touring for decades.

I spoke with May, vocalist Lambert and drummer Roger Taylor about the upcoming tour, the songs they are excited to possibly add in this run and how the spirit of late vocalist Freddie Mercury is felt throughout the concert.

Steve Baltin: Do you have a new appreciation for doing these songs?

Brian May: I think absolutely yes. I think when we toured Europe after the pandemic we felt a huge sense of joy and relief that things were starting to get back to normal and all life hadn’t ceased forever.

Adam Lambert: I also think it changes the way the audience appreciates the show. Everyone was locked up and bored and our lives were all kind of stunted. So the audiences we had last summer were thrilled to be back in a concert and getting to see live music. So I think that charged us up as well.

Roger Taylor: It’s amazing how it changed us, changed music. It was very tough sitting there in the middle of it because you felt maybe this was forever, maybe we’ll never get out there. Maybe we’ll never play to a live audience again. So yeah it feels very special to be out there.

Baltin: When was the last U.S. tour?

Lambert: It was before the pandemic. It was six or eight months before, then we went down to Asia and Australia.

Baltin: Are there songs you guys are bringing back you are excited to revisit after a break?

May: Yeah, in a way. There’s a little thing that happened during lock down that was very interesting. We did a version of “We Are The Champions” actually hooking up over the internet, which I think is the first time we tried to seriously do that. It was called “You Are The Champions.” It was our little tribute to the medical people who were making life bearable for us all. So that happened.

Lambert: Yeah, we beamed in separately to perform it together. It was really interesting.

May: Then you do start thinking. I got really sick during COVID. Not just from COVID, but possibly a heart attack and a few other things as well. And I feel very fortunate just to be alive. That’s the first step. We’re still out here, we’re still reasonably healthy, we can do it. And we are looking at songs we’ve never done before. This guy can do anything, which is great. He has a stupendous voice, he also has the personality to bring things across in his own way. So yeah the sky’s the limit for us and we’re constantly evolving. This tour’s going to be be great. It’s going to be something new and different.

Baltin: So for each of you what’s the one song you haven’t done yet you’d love to do?

Lambert: There was a song that I particularly love called “Take My Breath Away,” that is just the most beautiful recording of Freddie [Mercury]. I was so in love with it but I realized, “I don’t even want to touch it, it’s that beautiful.” And that’s when I suggested, “Let’s play a little piece of it, of Freddie singing it just as a way to set the mood for something. We do that now, we’ve been incorporating for it a while right before we do “Who Wants To Live Forever.” It’s just this beautiful palette cleanser in that moment. And I love hearing his voice on it. So that’s one I dreamed of singing, but then decided that I shouldn’t try because it’s just too good.

May: It’s nice because Freddie is very much in the show. You will hear Freddie during the show and you’ll see him a bit through various little methods that we have. But what you won’t hear is any clicks or backing tracks. You’ll just hear us and a few little nuances of Freddie in there, which we love. Freddie is part of the origin of all of this stuff and he’s still there. His spirit is very strong.

Lambert: We do play a section of the “Bohemian Rhapsody” video. That’s the one exception because it’s so visually iconic. I think we wanted to include that.

Taylor: It’s also a place for costume change (they laugh).

May: It also gives us a chance to change frocks.

Lambert: Exactly, the opera section is where we change.

Baltin: Brian and Roger what are your songs?

May: There is a song called “Is This The World We Created,” which I think is even more relevant now that we’re all so aware of the catastrophe that is impending on this planet. And I think Adam would sing it very beautifully. And it would give us a nice low-key moment.

Lambert: We actually just had this conversation.

May: This is very new.

Lambert: So this is fresh. You got the scoop.

May: We’ll probably put it in for a couple of nights, see how it goes. And if it feels good, great, it will stay. If it doesn’t we’ll move it out and try something else.

Lambert: And that’s the whole thing. I think we’re all invested in trying new things and it makes it fun. And I think that we, as a unit, are really capable of winging it, to a certain degree. We know the music and we’re fine getting on stage and going for it in front of an audience. It’s kind of thrilling. Some people do adrenaline, thrill-seeking sports, like jumping off buildings. And we go, “Let’s try it.” Taking that leap of faith of doing a song you maybe rehearsed one hour, that’s really fun.

May: We have done a couple of Adam songs as well. They’ve drifted in and out with great success.

Lambert: Big honor