Rock band Queen plans first tour since Freddie Mercury's death


LONDON (AFP) - Surviving members of Queen have decided to get together to go on the road next year, in the legendary British rock band's first tour since the death of frontman Freddie Mercury (news).
After a series of successful joint performances earlier this year, vocalist Paul Rodgers (news) of 1970's blues band Free accepted to take the place of Mercury, who died of AIDS (news - web sites) in 1991.



"The dates will be in the United Kingdom and across Europe initially, possibly starting in March, but yet to be set in stone," said the official Queen fan website (www.queenworld.com).



Queen guitarist Brian May (news) said there had been "amazing chemistry" when he played alongside Rodgers in concert at London's Albert Hall and on British television.



"Suddenly it seemed blindingly obvious that there was something happening here," said May, who has spent the last few weeks organising the tour.



Drummer Roger Taylor will take part in the revival tour, but it is not yet clear if the other member of the band, bassist John Deacon, will join him.



Queen, famous for rock anthems such as "We Are the Champions", "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Radio Gaga", stopped playing in the late 1980s due to Mercury's deteriorating health.



But the band's cult status has been kept alive with occasional concerts and releases of live recordings.



Rodgers achieved world fame in 1968 as a member of the seminal blues group Free, which with Led Zeppelin and Cream led a revival in British blues music.

lol Milty you beat me to it...I was literally about to post about this here's what I got from E!Online...

Queen Making the Scene in '05
(E!Online, Thursday December 16)

Queen has decided the show must go on.

Heeding its own advice, the superstar British rock band is planning to tour next year--the first time the band has gone on the road since frontman Freddie Mercury (news) died of AIDS (news - web sites) in 1991. Former Bad Company guitarist-vocalist Paul Rodgers (news) will hold down singing duties.

The band's last show with Mercury was in 1986, when the performer started to feel too ill to perform. Mercury died of the disease in 1991 just 48 hours after publicly admitting he had the disease. The following year, Queen's surviving members--guitarist Brian May (news), drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon--held a tribute concert in Mercury's honor with the likes of David Bowie (news), Elton John (news), George Michael (news) and Axl Rose (news) performing the vocals for several Queen classics.

Earlier this year, Rodgers and May teamed up to cover Free's "All Right Now" at an Albert Hall concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster.

According to May, that gig proved to be the impetus for reforming the once mighty glam rock band.

"We were both so amazed at the chemistry that was going on in 'All Right Now' that suddenly it seems blindingly obvious that there was something happening," said May in a post on brianmay.com.

"The show went so incredibly well from our point of view, and we got so many rave reactions from out there, we decided almost then and there that we would look at a tour together," he added.

May and Taylor subsequntly asked Rodgers to sing Mercury's lyrics for a British TV special.

Tour details are still being worked out--no word yet whether Deacon will come on board--but the revamped Queen will likely play a few dates in the U.K. followed by a European swing in the spring. It remains to be seen whether the band will make it Stateside.

Queen's popularity has endured since Mercury's passing. "We Are the Champions," "We Will Rock You" and "Another One Bites the Dust" are staples at sports arenas everywhere. And "Bohemian Rhapsody" is still a fixture on classic radio stations nationwide. "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You" were both on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs last month and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Earlier this year, Las Vegas' Paris Hotel and Casino launched a U.S. production of the West End Queen-based musical We Will Rock You. The show, which Robert De Niro (news) helped produce, features nearly two dozen Queen tunes and is playing at the Paris Theatre des Arts

I'm SO EXCITED about this coz I'm going to be there when they tour!

Natisse said:

So why didn't you post on my thread on this two days ago ....?


http://www.prince.org/msg/8/125899

RocknRollDave said:

awwww Dave I'm sorry I didn't see your thread otherwise I would have! sorry

why?

sosgemini said:

I guess for the same reason they re-issued the greatest hits
albums a dozen times over the past decade.

And what about "greatest hits III" including Refugee mixes of
Queen songs and utter shyte like that.

They want to release stuff over and over again when there is
nothing new to add to the brew.

Clearly they don't have any outtakes or vault material to make
a decent anthology because I'm convinced they would have done
a boxset if they had the stuff.

Why else release and rehash everything time after time.

Yet a decent remaster seems to be out of the question. I don't
get it at all.

And as far as touring with a new lead singer goed, I don't see
that working either. Freddy was the face of the band, and his
voice was just too typical to be replaced imo.

What else can prolonging the neckshot add to their legacy except
make the band a karikature of itself.

Natisse said:

That's Ok!


Hey, did you see them on the UK Hall Of Fame show doing We Will Rock You, ...Champions and All Right Now, WITH the new singer dude?

Queen isn't Queen without Freddie.

subhuman09 said:

True. I think the Queen name should rest in peace.



However...these are Brian and Roger's songs as much as they were Freddy's. Why shouldn't they get to play them again?

I don't think anyone would kid themselves that it'll be the same. But it may be different in a good way...?

RocknRollDave said:

With them I think Freddie had such a big hand into it-always seems like that to me though when a band tours with a new vocalist after the old one has quit/died/whatever.

All screams of them just wanting a fast buck.

I love the band's work-I just think they're kidding themselves if people aren't going to at least be skeptical.



(Cha-ching.)

subhuman09 said:

Hmmmm. Maybe what they should really do is write some new stuff..?

Rogers is a decent enough vocalist (not one I care much for, but he suits Brian and Roger's harder Rock styles..maybe not so much the subtler stuff that Freddy was absolutely untouchable at, but Rock, yes) and they are obviously talented musicians and writers. Why not move on from Queen with something brand new?


I disagree that money is a motivation...Queen publishing will provide more than enough money for them to live the life of Reilly for the rest of their lives, they couldn't possible need any more money.

At least, the image of the guys from Queen that I always had was that they were better than that - they seem genuine enough people.

I'm not a major Queen fan, I just think it'd be good to see Brian May back on stage again, cranking up his axe!
[Edited 12/17/04 2:24am]

Oh-I'd love the chance to see Brian-I'm just a little skeptical.

I liked the revolving guest list at the Freddie tribute concert in the 90's-hopefully I'm wrong though.

They want to do this,so I'm glad they picked Paul Rogers!
There was rumour that Robbie Williams or George Michael or others were gonna take Freddie's place.Imo these artists are a bit too much "look at me!"-like,to me.(And that can never work,though they're great singers,nobody can live up to "Freddie standards"..)
I'm sure Paul is going to do what a person in his position is supposed to do:Give it his best and sing his heart out!Cheers Paul!
And people:Don't start comparing voices,please..Everybody knows there's only one Freddie,but...The show must go on!