Brian May: Adam hits notes even Freddie couldn't

News
By ( Classic Rock ) published

Guitarist says Lambert's vocal range would have impressed late singer

Queen’s Brian May says singer Adam Lambert can hit high notes that even Freddie Mercury struggled with.

The guitarist once again heaps praise on former American Idol contestant Lambert, who has been on vocal duties with Queen on their world tour which hits the UK next month.

May tells Universal Music: “We didn’t look for this guy, suddenly he’s there, and he can sing all of those lines. See, they’re difficult songs to sing, Queen songs. There’s too much range. So many people can’t sing them in the original key — even if they are good singers.

“Adam comes along, and he can do it easy. He can do it in his sleep. He can sing higher than even Freddie could in a live situation. So I think Freddie would look at this guy and think, ‘Hmm, yeah. Okay.’ There would be a kind of, ‘Hmm, you bastard, you can do this.’

“And Adam also has this presentation, I think. He is a showman. He doesn’t have to try. He is a natural, in the same way that Freddie was.

“Adam is so much like Freddie in many ways. But Adam doesn’t have to try to be like Freddie, which is the nice thing. He doesn’t imitate – he just does his own thing.”

Queen released a new album – Queen Forever – featuring Mercury last month.

Queen and Adam Lambert 2015 UK dates

Jan 13: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena

Jan 14: Glasgow Hydro

Jan 17: London O2 Arena

Jan 20: Leeds First Direct Arena

Jan 21: Manchester Phones 4U Arena

Jan 23: Birmingham NIA

Jan 24: Nottingham Capital FM Arena

Feb 24: London Wembley Arena

Feb 26: Liverpool Echo Arena

Feb 27: Sheffield Motorpoint Arena

Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.