‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ rockers Queen are touring Australia for the first time in 29 years, and the teeny tiny fact that lead singer Freddie Mercury is long dead will not stand in their way. The band have settled on a replacement in American Idol runner-up and glam pop singer Adam Lambert.
It’s difficult to replace a front man like Mercury, and many have tried over the years, including the likes of Elton John, David Bowie and Annie Lennox, all of whom have sung with the band. Next to those guys, Lambert seems like a bit of a musical minnow, and fans have already started taking the piss in a pretty big way:
LADIES AND GENTLEMAN PLEASE WELCOME TO THE STAGE: A RUNNER UP ON THE EIGHTH SEASON OF IDOL AND THE DRUMMER AND GUITARIST FROM QUEEN!!
— nack jones (@ninedorff) May 19, 2014
Adam Lambert cops a lot of consternation because of his association with a reality singing contest, but leaving all that aside, the dude can actually fucking sing, and has roughly the sort of rock star swagger that a gig like this demands. He performed with Queen last year in Las Vegas, and Hollywood Reporter praised his mix of “style, theatricality, sex appeal and impressive vocal gymnastics.”
Lambert joins original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor on the tour.
You can catch them on the following dates:
PERTH: Friday 22 August – Perth Arena
SYDNEY: Tuesday 26 August – Allphones Arena
MELBOURNE: Friday 29 August – Rod Laver Arena
BRISBANE – Monday 1 September – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Advance tickets will be available via the Visa Entertainment presale for all Visa Credit, Debit and Prepaid cardholders from 12.00pm (local time) on Thursday May 22nd until 11.00pm (local time) Sunday May 25th 2014 or until presale tickets sell out online.
Photo: Brad Barket via Getty Images
