Before Queen + Adam Lambert there was Queen + Paul Rodgers. We spoke to them about the plusses and the minuses
As Classic Rock wrote this story in mid-March 2005, Paul Rodgers had been rehearsing with Queen stalwarts guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor for a little over a month. But by the time anyone read it, the new band – officially dubbed ‘Queen + Paul Rodgers’ – had played their first show, an Aids Awareness Concert in South Africa on March 19, and kicked off a European tour.
So, what should fans expect when the British leg kicks off officially, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Metro Arena on May 3 2005?

“I’m not supposed to tell you,” laughs May. “It’s still slightly fluid, to be honest. We’ve rehearsed more songs than we’re actually going to be playing. But if you really want to know, I suppose it’s about 65 per cent Queen and, and… erm, hang on a minute… 35 percent Paul,” he says, doing the maths. “Something like that. But really we haven’t solidified the set yet. It’s close.”
Rodgers: “It’s largely Queen, I think people will expect to see that. Brian and Roger tell me they’ve always been big fans of Free. They want to do particular songs in the set that I wrote with Andy Fraser in Free, and a couple of the numbers I wrote with Mick [Ralphs] in Bad Company. There’s going to be a sprinkling of my songs throughout.”
Rodgers refers again to Freddie Mercury, who – incredibly – had been dead for 14 years that following November. “I think Freddie would be happy,” Paul insists, “because I feel his spirit throughout the music. I’ve been listening to so much of Queen generally, and Freddie’s singing specifically. Just studying his vocal style, really. Getting into the spirit of the man. And I feel, actually, quite close.”
It’s easy to be critical about May and Taylor linking up with Rodgers. (The other surviving member of Queen, bassist John Deacon, is retired from the stage.) But the fact is, the tickets for their tour sold out like stone-cold-crazy. The band had recently announced a massive outdoor show at London’s Hyde Park on July 8.
Rodgers, in particular, was amazed by the turn of events – particularly as that summer marked the 35th anniversary of when Free played the Isle Of Wight festival, in 1970.