‘More naturally at home with us’: Queen on the difference between touring with Adam Lambert, Paul Rodgers

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Roger Taylor and Brian May have nothing but praise for their 2005-09 stint with Paul Rodgers. It pushed Queen’s music into a new, more R&B-inflected direction, however, whereas successor Adam Lambert has precipitated a shift back to the band’s original Freddie Mercury-era tone and feel.

“Paul has one of the greatest rock voices,” Taylor tells the Toronto Sun, “but it’s more blues and soul orientated, I would have thought. I would say, with all due respect to Paul, that Adam is more suited to a lot of our material and whereas we had great tours with Paul, I think Adam is more naturally at home with us.”

May and Taylor also recorded one studio album with Rodgers, who earlier fronted Bad Company and Free. Up next is a world tour featuring Lambert, who has been appearing off and on with Queen since his 2009 stint on American Idol.

“Yeah, I think the styles match more closely in a sense but we had a great time with Paul, no doubt about it, and it kind of stretched it to a new place and I think a thoroughly good experience,” May adds. “But Adam is really, like us, he has many, many colors — so we can explore some of those strange excursions that Queen likes to.”

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