It’s a steamy summer for pop/rock star Adam Lambert.
With his new single “Comin in Hot” and his current Rhapsody Tour with British rock band Queen selling out venues everywhere it plays – including a July 31 date at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh – Lambert is on fire.
In an ABC-TV documentary that aired before the six-week tour got underway July 10 in Vancouver, Lambert talked about how he went from being a runner up on the eighth season of “American Idol” in 2009 to being Queen’s new lead singer with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died in 1991.
Lambert sang Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” during his “Idol” audition and his season finale performance that year featured May and Taylor. They performed again together at the 2011 MTV Europe Awards and began touring together the next year as Queen and Adam Lambert.
They also were featured performers at the 2019 Academy Awards in February.
“One of the great things about being on stage with Queen is that I’ve challenged myself to try to find my own personal connection to the lyrics to their songs,” Lambert said. “‘Another One Bites the Dust’ is a big bite, and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and ‘The Show Must Go On’ are all big songs, but they’re so gratifying.”
Concert promoter Jared Braverman said that Lambert, 37, “brings in a whole new fan base. There are people that come in to see Adam Lambert and they walk away Queen fans.”
Live music experience
The six-week Rhapsody tour is introducing a new larger-than-life stage production, according to Stufish Entertainment Architects’ set designer Ric Lipson. He said the tour “will expand the parameters of what a live music experience can be. This new show promises to be their most spectacular yet, an innovative and interactive celebration of the continued power of Queen’s music.”
“We have been designing a brand new visual spectacle that will re-frame these iconic songs and we are excited to unveil it!” Lambert said in a press release.
May added, “This is a great opportunity. Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever and got us our best notices ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious! Watch out, America!”
Completing the tour lineup are Spike Edney on keyboards, Neil Fairclough on bass and Tyler Warren on percussion.
Lambert’s new album, “Velvet,” a two-part release, is due out in the fall, with Side A expected to be released in September. Lambert already released three singles from the album, “Comin in Hot, “Feel Something” and “New Eyes,” which he debuted live at a summer concert in New York City’s Central Park.
“It’s a little more soulful, a little funkier, there’s lots of instruments and more influence from the past, the ’70s and ’80s,” he said of his upcoming album, before offering up the new song.
