‘I want to give it more power’: Queen, Adam Lambert are having fun as huge tour approaches

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As Queen prepares for a tour that will find them appearing with Adam Lambert for the first time in the U.S., and in Australia for the first time in any configuration since 1985, they admit to a few revelations.

“I’ve forgotten,” drummer Roger Taylor tells Sunday Night on 7, “what a heavy, heavy rock band Queen was.” Guitarist Brian May adds: “We were quite good.”

Then there’s Lambert, who is stepping in for Queen’s legendary frontman Freddie Mercury. The ex-Idol finalist says he’s studied Mercury through vintage recordings, and worked hard to put his own stamp on these familiar songs. “I listen to him, and I’m like: ‘Ooo, I want to give it more power like he did,'” says Lambert, who’s been appearing off and on with Queen since 2009.

In the end, Taylor and May agree that Lambert has given the band, which formed in 1970, a jolt of energy. “The power of youth is –,” May begins, then shakes his head, before Taylor quips: “Yes, we drink his blood daily.”

The long-awaited North American leg of Queen’s tour kicks off in Chicago later this month. They head to Australia in August. Queen will also be playing South Korea and Japan.

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