Paul Rodgers

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Lore & Background

The collaboration began when May played at the Fender Strat Pack concert in 2004. As he had done multiple times before, he joined Rodgers for a rendition of Free's classic, 'All Right Now'. After this, May spoke of a chemistry between the two of them. Following this, May invited Rodgers to play with Queen at their 10 October 2004 induction to the UK Music Hall of Fame where they played 'We Will Rock You', 'We Are the Champions' and 'All Right Now'. Again citing a new excitement with Rodgers, the three announced their world tour in 2005. The group's first public performance was at a concert in South Africa in March 2005 in support of Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS awareness campaign. The tour began properly with a concert at the Brixton Academy venue in London, with tickets sold primarily to members of the official Queen fan club. A typical set list mainly focused on Queen's best-known hits, with songs such as 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', 'We Will Rock You', 'We Are the Champions', and 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The typical set also included some songs from the back catalogues of Free and Bad Company, such as 'All Right Now', 'Wishing Well', 'Feel Like Making Love', and 'Bad Company'. May and Taylor sang lead on some songs. Rodgers announced in May 2009 that the Queen + Paul Rodgers collaboration had come to an end, saying, 'it was never meant to be a permanent arrangement.' He did, however, leave open the possibility for future collaborations, later realized as Queen + Adam Lambert.

In Their Own Story

On 2 July 2005, Queen + Paul Rodgers performed at the Estadio do Restelo in Lisbon, Portugal, in front of 30,000 people. The concert was planned to be one of the stages for Live 8 but only a message was sent before ''39'. Two songs were dedicated to Live 8. 'Say It's Not True', a song by Taylor for Nelson Mandela's fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, was introduced by Taylor in Lisbon: 'This is a song from Nelson Mandela and for HIV/AIDS Africa, especially today on Live 8-day. This is a song to Lisbon.' After this song, May dedicated ''39' to Bob Geldof and introduced the song: 'Olá Lisboa! I would like to make a salute to all our comrades and friends who are doing such a wonderful job and trying that children throughout the world are no longer hungry; let's make a big noise for Bob Geldof and Live 8'. The Hyde Park concert took place on 15 July 2005. The band and management gave away thousands of free tickets to emergency services people for helping in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, which caused the concert to be postponed by a week. The concert was attended by some 65,000 people, and Queen + Paul Rodgers performed for over 2 hours. In an interview published in the San Jose Mercury News, Rodgers said that the one song they would not be able play while on tour was 'Killer Queen', due to the fact that 'the melodies are just too on the spot'.

Reader's Guide

Paul Rodgers joined Queen as a featured vocalist for the Queen + Paul Rodgers collaboration starting in 2004. His role was to perform lead vocals on Queen's greatest hits and new material, while May and Taylor also sang lead on some songs. Rodgers did not replace Freddie Mercury; it was made clear he would simply be 'featured with' past Queen members. Former Queen bass guitarist John Deacon declined to participate after having retired in 1997. The group's three principal members, May, Taylor, and Rodgers, were supplemented on tour by Queen's former touring keyboard player Spike Edney, rhythm guitarist Jamie Moses, and bass guitarist Danny Miranda. The collaboration produced the studio album The Cosmos Rocks, released in the European Union on 15 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008. It was Queen's sixteenth studio album and the first since 1995's Made in Heaven. May later recalled: 'We spent a huge amount of time making that album with Paul Rodgers, going through quite a lot of pain, and I don't think it made the slightest dent on public consciousness. So I would be cautious about being in a recording group called Queen without Freddie.' Rodgers announced in May 2009 that the collaboration had come to an end, saying, 'My arrangement with (Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor) was similar to my arrangement with Jimmy (Page) in The Firm in that it was never meant to be a permanent arrangement.'

Did You Know?

• Rodgers first performed with Brian May at the Fender Strat Pack concert in 2004, joining him for a rendition of Free's 'All Right Now'.
• The Hyde Park concert on 15 July 2005 gave away thousands of free tickets to emergency services people for helping in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
• Rodgers said the one song they would not be able to play on tour was 'Killer Queen', because 'the melodies are just too on the spot'.
• The group performed at the Estadio do Restelo in Lisbon on 2 July 2005, which was planned to be one of the stages for Live 8.
• Rodgers announced the collaboration had ended in May 2009, but left open the possibility for future collaborations, later realized as Queen + Adam Lambert.