Nearly 25 years to the day since the Freddie Mercury tribute concert brought London to a standstill in 1997, the Queen magic lives on, according to Brian May.
The veteran rocker is back on the road in the US, and credits “the unique Adam Lambert” for making it possible for Queen to perform on the scale of yesteryear.
Brian tells HuffPostUK: “It’s as big and splendid an undertaking as we’ve ever done in the USA … very much the equal in numbers of the tours we did when Freddie was around. And the tour is already almost sold out - so it’s a very exciting prospect for us Old Rockers!
“Of course we have an amazing young rocker with us … the unique Adam Lambert, whose extraordinary vocal range and showmanship enables us to operate at the very top level once again.
“We’re expecting great things. Technologically, the show fuses brand new technology with some of the old Queen special tricks we learned along the way, and of course we play the Queen Hits - a plentitude of them! But there are some new twists there, too. See you out there!”
His touring commitments mean Brian won’t be attending this year’s fourth Starmus festival, a gathering of some of the greatest astronomers and physicists of our age, co-founded by Brian, who also provided the music on previous occasions.
This year, in his absence, he’s called upon rock legend Steve Vai to head up the musical component. Steve will appear with his band, and special guests including Nuno Bettencourt, Grace Potter and Davin Townsend.
Brian tells HuffPostUK: “I’m gutted I can’t be at Starmus this year … but I will be there in spirit. And Steve Vai and his very special guests will keep the flame burning !!”
Starmus Festival will be taking place in Trondheim, Norway, from 18 to 23 June. Click here for info.
Click here for all info regarding Queen’s tour.