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Adam Lambert says it is “impossible” to replace Freddie Mercury in Queen
Queen frontman Adam Lambert has spoken about the task of stepping into Freddie Mercury’s shoes and said he’s “impossible” to replace.
Lambert was speaking at the O2 Silver Clef Awards in the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel in London and discussed his role within the legendary rock group. The singer rose to fame when he came runner-up on American Idol in 2009 and subsequently began touring with Queen in 2011 after carving out a successful solo career.
“Listen, there’s no replacing Freddie Mercury. It’s impossible. Freddie Mercury is a mythic rock god. Not only did he sing the hell out of those songs, he wrote so many of them,” Lambert told Music News at the award ceremony.
“Those were his stories in a lot of those songs. And if I didn’t have the recordings of Freddie Mercury, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am with this music. So he’s incredibly inspiring and he definitely gave me all of the ingredients that I needed to even pull it off on stage. So I look at it always as a celebration and a tribute to him.”
His comments arrive shortly after Queen revealed that they are considering releasing a new album with Lambert acting as frontman. When a US Radio station asked guitarist Brian May whether they had ever contemplated releasing new music with Lambert, he revealed: “We have dabbled a little. It is just that you haven’t heard any of it.”
May added: “It would have to be something so special that we would feel we would want to launch it on the public.”
Lambert himself said: “It’s a lot of pressure if you think about it. If they’re going to put something out that’s new, it’s got to be at a certain level. It has to be the right thing. And I’ve always said, ‘Is it appropriate for me to be doing new material?’ I feel like it scares me.”
Although Queen have toured extensively with Lambert, they haven’t released any new music since 2008’s The Cosmos Rocks with Paul Rodgers.
