.

Queen Return With Paul Rodgers: "Imitating Freddie Would Be Pointless"

September 16, 2008 11:55 AM ET

Check out this awesome video of Queen with Paul Rodgers performing for more than 350,000 people last week in the Ukraine (they don't come onstage until about four minutes in to the video, so skip ahead). The show, dubbed "Life Must Go On!" raised money and awareness around HIV/AIDS issues in the former Soviet republic, a topic obviously close to the band: "Queen lost its singer many years ago, so we know that this can affect anybody," drummer Roger Taylor told the AP.

Rolling Stone recently caught up with the band as they were prepping the release of their first new material in 14 years (with Rodgers stepping in for Freddie Mercury), October 28th's The Cosmos Rocks. "We could have had any number of people come along and imitate Freddie, but it would be pointless," Brian May says. "Paul's brought us back to a greater awareness of our instinctive side."

Related Stories:
In the Studio: Queen
Queen Plot New Album, Tour

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Music Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus
Daily Newsletter

Get the latest RS news in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Rolling Stone newsletter and special offers from RS and its
marketing partners.

X

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.

Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »