It was in December 2004 that the news first broke. 13 years after Freddie Mercury’s death, Queen were to return to the live stage with a new singer – Paul Rodgers, the former star of Free and Bad Company, a man widely acknowledged as one of the greatest British rock vocalists of all time.
Rumours that Rodgers was to team up with Queen had circulated ever since they had played together as inductees at the UK Music Hall Of Fame awards in London in November of that year.
That night, Rodgers sang the classic Free track All Right Now with Brian May on guitar, then joined May and Roger Taylor to perform two Queen songs.
May and Taylor finally admitted that the rumours were true when they attended the opening of the Queen musical We Will Rock You in Germany in December.
The new-look band, billed as Queen + Paul Rodgers, first toured in 2005, performing songs by Queen, Free and Bad Company.
The collaboration ended in 2009 after one studio album, The Cosmos Rocks.
In 2005, Rodgers was interviewed by Q magazine. He revealed how he hooked up with May and Taylor, and spoke of his admiration for the man who had fronted Queen in their glory days – the late, great Freddie Mercury.
According to Rodgers, this collaboration happened out of the blue, without any formal planning.
He laughed when he stated: “It’s come as a surprise to a lot of people – ourselves included! I had no plans to join Queen. I was happy doing my own thing, playing 30 shows a year with my solo band.”
The UK Music Hall Of Fame was the catalyst.
Rodgers explained: “I decided to do All Right Now and when I asked Brian to join me, he asked me to sing two songs with them – We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. I’ve always loved those songs, so I jumped at the chance.
“I always love to jam with great musicians. And I knew we were on to something when we rehearsed those three songs together and the TV crew, all hardened old pros, gave us a standing ovation.”
Asked if he believed this was written in the stars, Rodgers replied: “Yes, dear boy! Well, you know Brian studies astronomy, so maybe it was. It was truly astronomical! It really was just a gas. Smashing!”
He insisted that he had no misgivings about doing a whole tour with Queen.
“No, I don’t think I did. But this thing has kind of developed a life of its own. Initially we were going to do three dates in London. All of a sudden it’s 25 dates in Europe! It took my breath away. I had to draw the line somewhere, as I have solo dates to do.”
He said of his connections to May and Taylor: “I only just met Roger last year, but Brian and I go back years. He played on my Muddy Water Blues album. Brian and myself have played on a few things over the years, usually charity stuff.”
Rodgers said how he had always enjoyed Queen’s music.
“I’d always admired Queen from afar. I didn’t buy every record, but it’s great music. I always loved We Will Rock You – I hear it wherever I go. Is This The World We Created is a beautiful song. I Want It All is fantastic, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Innuendo.
“I’ve certainly been listening to a lot of their material lately. And the more deeply I look into what they’ve done, the more I’m blown away. When I was last in London I went to see [Queen musical] We Will Rock You at the Dominion theatre, and it was just hit after hit. Queen are so creative, they’re almost up there with The Beatles – and The Beatles are my favourite band.”
Asked to name a few songs that would definitely be performed on the 2005 tour, he replied: “We’re joining forces, so there are two legacies – Queen, and Free and Bad Company, my songs. There are a lot of Queen songs that rock and are in my area: Tie Your Mother Down, Fat Bottomed Girls. And from my past, we’re thinking of Wishing Well, Fire And Water… and we may well do All Right Now.”
He added: “It’ll be great hearing them doing my stuff. Roger says we have an embarrassment of riches. The problem is what not to play! When Brian and myself have discussed setlists, we’ve ended up with four-hour shows!”
Were there any Queen songs that Rodgers didn’t fancy singing?
He answered cautiously: “Some of the more theatrical songs.”
He agreed that Bohemian Rhapsody, as Freddie Mercury’s masterpiece, would be challenging to perform.
“It is his masterpiece,” Rodgers said. “But there are ways we could handle it. And it would be something in Freddie’s memory. Even when Queen did it, they’d walk off stage for the operatic section and show the video footage. Those harmonies were impossible to reproduce live. We maybe could do that. But the rest of the song, ‘Mama, just killed a man...’ That’s something I could do.”
Looking ahead to the 2005 tour, Rodgers considered the differences between himself and Mercury as singers and as personalities.
“Freddie was very much a showman. I come from a blues and soul background, but there’s a lot of showmanship in soul music too. So you’ll see dynamism and movement up on stage, but not flamboyance.”
He joked: “There’ll be no cape – and probably a lack of tights!”
Mores seriously, he stated: “I’m going to bring what I can to the mix. We’ll be paying tribute to Freddie and what he achieved. I have a great deal of respect for Freddie, right down to the way he died. He chose the moment of his death. He stopped taking medication, stopped eating. To do that takes some guts.”
He reasoned: “I’m not actually replacing Freddie – nobody could do that. He’s a completely different kind of singer and songwriter: classically trained. That’s why we’re billed as Queen plus Paul Rodgers.”
Above all else, this great singer was thrilled to be working with two other rock legends.
“I’ve dusted off my old rock ‘n’ roll shoes,” Rodgers said. “We’re gonna let rip and rock! It’ll be fun, dynamic, exciting – I know it’s going to blow my mind.
“I feel a fantastic chemistry and energy between us. I can’t wait to walk out on stage with them. It definitely won’t be painting by numbers – it’ll be far more live and dangerous than that.”
He also opened the door for what happen in 2008 with the release of The Cosmos Rocks.
“We’re all songwriters,” he said, “so there’s a distinct chance that we might write some new songs. I’d day there’s a 50/50 chance we’ll record new material. We’re open to anything – and on a musical level, this blows all my fuses!”
