Queen returns!

[El Chuxter]

From Yahoo News:

Rodgers Replaces Freddie Mercury in Queen
By The Associated Press

LONDON - The '70s rock band Queen is planning a tour next year with guitarist-vocalist Paul Rodgers (news) replacing frontman Freddie Mercury (news), who died of AIDS (news - web sites) in 1991.

Details about what would be the first Queen tour since Mercury's death were being worked out, but it could include shows across Europe beginning this spring, the band's spokesman said Wednesday.

Rodgers, from '70s blues band Free, impressed the remaining members of Queen when he joined them for several performances this year.

Rodgers and Queen guitarist Brian May (news) performed Free's hit "All Right Now" at a concert in London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar earlier this year. May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor then asked Rodgers to stand in for Mercury when the band was featured on a British TV channel's music hall of fame program.

In a note on his Web site, May said there had been "amazing chemistry" when he played alongside Rodgers, adding: "It seems blindingly obvious that there was something happening here."

The official Queen Fan Club welcomed the promised tour, even though it wasn't known whether bass player John Deacon, the other member of the band, will join it.

Queen's stadium anthems "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" were played to packed audiences worldwide. During the late 1980s, when the band had to give up touring because of Mercury's illness, Queen reached new fans with recordings such as "The Miracle" and "Innuendo."

My feelings? Somewhat mixed. No one can ever replace Freddie, much less the guy from a generic 70s band. And Queen without Freddie and John isn't Queen anymore.

But Brian May has been pretty MIA for the past few years, save some guest guitar-slinging on a Foo Fighters CD or two. Any excuse to hear a master at work is worth it. My only hopes would be that Brian and Roger don't ignore their great solo stuff, and that this lives up to the hype it will no doubt produce.

If Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power is getting old after playing a bazillion times in the past week, maybe it's time to put in News of the World! Just skip the crappy remix thrown on at the end, and it's one of the most perfect albums ever produced.

[arctangent]

paul rodgers? singing queen? ! much as i love queen, i will be giving this a miss and holding dearly onto my memories of queen at wembley stadium in 1986 (the ONLY stadium concert i have been to where the venue didn't dwarf the band). i just can't see this working myself. and its a bit muuch calling it queen when john deacon (as far as i know) isn't getting involved as he retired from music when freddie died.

and brian may hasn't been mia over this side of the pond - he has been heavily involved with the 'we will rock you' musical based on queen music which has been very successful in the west end.

[El Chuxter]

Yeah, I know Brian's not been completely MIA, but two solo albums, a live album and one new Queen song in 13 years, aren't exactly what I'd call "staying in the spotlight." The guy's one of the best rock guitarists period, and an extremely underrated songwriter and singer.

A lot of songs I can't see Rodgers doing at all. He's just, well, to be blunt, too straight. Some of the straightforward rockers though might work. ("Keep Yourself Alive" comes right to mind for some reason.)

And I envy you greatly for having seen them at Wembley. I've heard that on CD, and it's like Hendrix at Monterrey. My hat's off to you.

[Exhaust Port]

I wouldn't mind it as much if they were forming as a new band rather than reviving the Queen name.

[Bacta Beast]

Paul Rodgers can't hit that stuff! If anyone is completely honest about it they would have to admit that George Micheals would be the best (most recognizable) replacement for Freddie. He may not be able to write the same, but vocally, he hits it dead. If anyone has seen the video of Queen with George Micheals doing "Somebody to Love" it's obvious. like the guy or not, vocally he could do a great job.

[Rocketboy]

Sounds almost as bad as The Doors 21st Century (or whatever they're calling themselves).

[2-1B]

Agreed, Rocketboy - almost as bad as The Doors of the 21st Century because . . . well . . . at least The Doors tweaked their name a bit.

[evenflow]

Im not into, and am pretty much against it. I feel the same way about the doors of the 21st century. They should just let these legends rest in peace and let their memories live on.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

Well, just over three years later, here's this:

From Ultimate Guitar:

Together Brian May, Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers have recorded their first album's worth of material, jointly written and produced. With the title yet to be disclosed, the album is being readied for release September 1, two weeks ahead of the start of the tour.

Tracks on the new Queen + Paul Rodgers album titled "The Cosmos Rocks" are all newly written by May, Taylor and Rodgers during the late 2007/ early 2008 recording sessions. Say It's Not True, previously released at the end of last year by Queen + Paul Rodgers as a special World Aids Day download for Nelson Mandela's 46664 HIV AIDS charity will be included, plus a 'first' for a Queen album -- a cover version.

One of these tracks, C-lebrity, will receive a sneak preview when the band make a by-demand return to the UK's ITV Al Murray's Happy Hour for the final show on April 4.

With a new album in the pipeline -- the first new studio album to carry the Queen name since the Freddie Mercury sessions -- the band is heading back on the road for a four-month tour, once again in the company of musician/singer/songwriter Paul Rodgers who joined forces with Brian May and Roger Taylor for the highly successful 2005/2006 world tour, the European leg of which ended with the band's spectacular London Hyde Park open air concert before going on to play the US and Japan. In all, the band's tour was attended by more than a million people.

The Queen + Paul Rodgers 28-date arena tour will take in 14 countries in just seven weeks, and take the band to Northern Eurasia, Central and Southern Europe, and the UK, and is expected to wind up at the end of the year with the band's highly anticipated return to South America, the setting of some of its most historic tours in the early '80s.

The 2008 tour kicks off mid-September in Russia with two dates at Moscow's SCO Olympic Arena, moves on into Poland for a massive free concert at the historic Gdansk Shipyard, and then follows a path through Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands before arriving in the UK early October for 6 dates including London's 02 Arena on October 13.

The UK dates see the band additionally play Nottingham, Glasgow, Cardiff and Birmingham with a final UK date at Liverpool Arena on October 18 before continuing on to Spain, Hungary, Serbia, Czech Republic and Austria for seven further dates.

Bassist John Deacon, who retired from the music business in the late 1990s, will not take part in the tour.

And here's the new song. I actually quite like it. It was great to hear some new guitar work from Brian. The riff reminds me though of "The Metal" by Tenacious D, but it's still good.

Looks like they are touring later this year but not in the US yet. I would really love to see them live.

[El Chuxter]

It sounds pretty good, though it still isn't Queen to me. I'll get it, but Rodgers will never, ever fill Freddie's boots. This is like what Velvet Revolver would've been if they called themselves Guns n Roses.

The live album wasn't bad. It even had some new songs, and some interesting interpretations of classics. I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't really Queen.

The one thing in the article is incorrect. There were a couple of covers on Live at Wembley. (They didn't specify studio albums.)

I did see, in looking for info, that We Will Rock You was finally released on CD under a different name last year. That was an awesome concert movie back in the day.