Queen are looking for a new place to perform in the UK after Sonisphere was cancelled

Queen issued a statement, expressing their regret that they could not perform at the same venue as their last show with former singer Freddie Mercury in 1986, but adding they are still hoping to play this summer.

The message read: "We are disappointed to hear of the cancellation of the Sonisphere festival, particularly as the venue was Knebworth, our last stand with Freddie."

"We apologise for the disappointment to all those who were looking forward to seeing us. We are working to see if we can redress the situation at some other venue."

Organisers of Sonisphere have promised all fans who bought tickets a refund, and said it is with a "heavy heart" they had to cancel the show.

A statement on their official website read: "Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar. Unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere's audience would rightly expect."

Adam Lambert tweeted about the cancelation, expressing his disappointment: “While I’m sad that the Sonisphere festival has been cancelled, I’m hopeful that Queen and I will share a stage again someday in the future.”

credit: NZCity

 

Plight of Lions Highlighted...

Credit: Time Live

Brian May, original member of supergroup Queen, was in Cape Town last night to lend his support to the Born Free Foundation and Pride of Africa, two initiatives that assist the conservation and rehabilitation of lions in Africa.

At the Grand Cafe in Granger Bay, May and his protege, Kerry Ellis, of the Queen Musical, dedicated their efforts to Virginia McKenna, an active member of the Born Free Foundation and tireless supporter of animal conservation.

May strummed to an awestruck audience while Ellis sang I Loved a Butterfly. They then launched into an adaptation of Born Free, a song originally written by Don Black for the 1966 movie Born Free about Elsa the lioness, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. McKenna starred in the film.

May ended his set by singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love , written by the late Queen front man Freddie Mercury.

The Born Free Foundation and Pride of Africa are joining forces to launch a project by Wild in Art and the Shamwari Group to place lion sculptures, painted by significant artists, throughout the V&A Waterfront to highlight the plight of the lions. The project is to be launched in May next year.

The Queen Extravaganza coming to Sands Bethlehem Event Center

Call it a kind of magic.

The Queen Extravaganza  will be performed June 10 at Sands Bethlehem Event Center, according to a news release.

The show is brainchild of Queen drummer Roger Taylor and will celebrate the music and legacy of the iconic rock band in conjunction with their 40th anniversary, according to the release.

Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday through ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

Queen rocketed to fame in the mid- and late 1970s and early '80s on the strength of numerous hit singles, including "We Will Rock You," "We Are the Champions," "Another One Bites the Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Under Pressure," "Killer Queen," "Tie Your Mother Down," and "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Queen + Adam Lambert: Moscow Ticket Update

Please find below a round up of the latest ticket information for the Queen + Adam Lambert show that is taking place on June 30th at the Olympic Arena in Moscow.

Official Ticket Agencies for the concert are:

www.1900.ru

www.concert.ru (The Olympic Arena's box office)

Tel: +7 (495) 641-19-00

Tickets will be also available at www.ticketland.ru and www.show.ru within the next week.

Buying Tickets From Overseas:

The best one and most simple is www.concert.ru. They can accept online credit card payments.

Please note: even after online payment the purchaser must pick up a physical ticket at the Olympic Arena / www.concert.ru box-office. There is NO "print @ home" option or e-tickets for this show - only persons with physical ticket with proper bar-code will be allowed.

Click here  for the full Queen + Adam Lambert Will Rock Moscow press release.

Brian May - "I'd have probably liked to be in AC/DC..."

The guitarist admires the Australian rockers and joked he might have joined them if his own group hadn't existed. The 64-year-old musician would have relished the challenge of being in a band he describes as "opposite "  to Queen, originally helmed by the late Freddie Mercury.

"I'd have probably liked to be in AC/DC. But I'm the wrong sort of size and shape unfortunately, "  he told UK newspaper The Independent.

"Because it's different from Queen. Queen were very eclectic, that's the word isn't it?, and we just trampled over every boundary that there was but AC/DC are in a sense the opposite, they know their style and it's incredibly pure and I have a great respect for that. And every single note they play is AC/DC completely."

Brian has worked alongside an eclectic mix of musicians from Eddie Van Halen to boy band 5ive. He has been criticised for some of his collaborations but likes to pursue ventures that push him as an artist no matter what people think.

"If I feel excited by it I don't really care what anybody else thinks," he said.

"And, in fact, I kind of enjoy that feeling of discomfort. I recently played on a Dappy [UK singer] record and I told a few people and they go, 'What the hell are you doing that for!? That's not music! How could you possibly consider it?' And again, I said, 'No, listen again, you'll find the guy's actually a great lyrical power and he's a great singer and the record is brilliantly produced, so what exactly is your problem?' And everybody came back when they heard it and said, 'B***dy hell, that is great and it's a great combination.' And it's a daring idea for both of us and I love it. I love breaking the boundaries."

Queen + Adam Lambert: U.S. dates?

Adam Lambert says he and the members of Queen haven't discussed the possibility of playing dates in the U.S.

"It's just that one date at Sonisphere and the warm-up gig in Russia," Adam said Friday at a radio-station event in Nashville. The two acts are playing together June 30 in Moscow and July 7 in England, with Lambert filling the frontman spot left vacant by the Freddie Mercury's death in 1991.

"Maybe we'll be able to do, like, a special night somewhere here, I don't know," he said during an interview with 107.5 The River on-air personality Intern Adam. "But there's no plan. There hasn't even been talk of that, so don't get your hopes up."

Adam says he'll do a lot of rehearsing with the band before those shows. "I've got my work cut out for me," he says. "I know the songs, but I don't know them all by heart, so I'm going to have to practice. But it's going to totally fun. I'm going to learn a lot from it, I think."

Adam doesn't look at his role in the shows as replacing Mercury.

"I'm there to sing music that he and the band wrote," he says. "It's not about imitation. It's not about doing an impression. It's, like, doing it my way in a way that, in my head, he would like. And Brian (May) and Roger (Taylor) are there to give me the green light or the red light."

Nor will he being trying to mimic Mercury.

"I'm not a mimicker," he says. "I'm my own artist. But he has inspired me. Hopefully, it will come from a deep, organic place. But I'm not growing a mustache. I won't be singing the songs with a British accent. ... I don't want to disrespect his memory and his legacy by getting up there and goofing on it."

Plus, he adds, "I can't wait to find out what my outfit is."...

credit: USA Today
 

ADELE JOINS QUEEN IN TOP 10 BIGGEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME CHART

Queen are still riding high and topping the Official Charts Top 10 Biggest Selling Albums of all time. A report highlighting that Adele has overtaken Michael Jackson shows the positions and sales figures.

The Official Charts’ Top 10 biggest selling albums of all time are as follows:

01 GREATEST HITS – QUEEN (5,863,000)
02 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND – THE BEATLES (5,044,000)
03 GOLD: GREATEST HITS – ABBA (4,989,000)
04 WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY – OASIS (4,517,000)
05 THRILLER - MICHAEL JACKSON (4,248,000)
06 BROTHERS IN ARMS - DIRE STRAITS (4,152,000)
07 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON - PINK FLOYD (4,114,000)
08 21 – ADELE (4,020,000)
09 BAD - MICHAEL JACKSON (3,959,000)
10 GREATEST HITS II – QUEEN (3,887,000)

Source: THEOFFICIALCHARTS.COM 

 

Freddie Mercury & Michael Jackson collaboration stolen by hackers...

Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue, including an unreleased collaboration with Freddie Mercury, has been stolen by hackers.

The Sony Music archive has been infiltrated by cyber-crooks, who have illegally downloaded more than 50,000 digital files.

Record company bosses paid $250 million to Jackson's estate in 2010 for the catalogue, including unheard material from studio sessions when the superstar recorded Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad.

A source tells Britain's Sunday Times, "Everything Sony purchased from the Michael Jackson estate was compromised.

"It caused them to check their systems and they found the breach. There was a degree of sophistication. Sony identified the weakness and plugged the gap."

The haul is also said to include a duet with the Black Eyed Peas rapper Will.i.am.

The attack was discovered weeks after hackers targeted Sony's PlayStation Network in April, but was only confirmed by a Sony Music representative on Saturday.


 

QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT HEADLINE SET 'WON'T BE A FREDDIE MERCURY SHOW', SAYS SONISPHERE CHIEF

STEREOBOARD
Saturday, 03 March 2012 Written by Elliott Batte


Stuart Galbraith, chief and overseer of Knebworth’s Sonisphere Festival, has told Queen fans hoping to attend the event in July that if ‘they are looking for a Freddie Mercury show, they aren't going to get it’ – but promised it would still be ‘one of the best performances’.

Queen will be performing a headline set at the festival, which takes place from July 6th-8th, alongside American Idol singer Adam Lambert, who covered the group’s tracks during his appearance on the show. He’s been heavily praised by Brian May and Roger Taylor – and seems to have impressed them enough for them to invite him to join them onstage at Sonisphere. But, according to Galbraith, their set won’t be too reminiscent of Freddie Mercury’s unique style – but will still be an epic performance nonetheless.

“If people are looking for a Freddie Mercury show, then they aren't going to get it,” he told NME. “But I think the Queen songs are huge, I think they fit perfectly with the Knebworth environment and perfectly with Sonisphere. I think it'll be one of the best performances we've seen from a headliner, it's the only show in the world they're doing. It's a huge coup for us.

“I rang them the day after the MTV EMAs [where Queen performed with Lambert]. I thought their performance with Adam that night was stunning and I literally rang them the following day. They weren't hesitant at all. It was one of those calls that was at the right time. It was surprisingly straightforward. Knebworth has a very dear place in their hearts; it was the last place that Freddie ever sang with the band. It's been 26 years since then and the idea of playing there again instantly struck a chord with them. They were into the idea right from the start.”

If you’re interesting in attending the festival, check the full line-up below and use the link provided to purchase tickets at the best possible price with Stereoboard.

Click here to Compare & Buy Sonisphere Tickets at Stereoboard.

Queen
Kiss
Faith No More
Tim Minchin
Andrew WK
The Blackout
Cypress Hill
Evanescence
Fields Of The Nephilim
Flogging Molly
Ghost
Gojira
I Killed The Prom Queen
Incubus
Katatonia
Lacuna Coil
Marilyn Manson
Mastodon
Refused
Switchfoot
The Darkness
Within Temptation
Wolfmother
 

ADAM LAMBERT 'Honored' To Sing With QUEEN

credit: blabbermouth.net

"Access Hollywood" caught up with U.S. singer-songwriter, and "American Idol" finalist, Adam Lambert on the red carpet for the 20th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards viewing party and asked him about singing with QUEEN at United Kingdom's Sonisphere festival this summer. You can watch the short chat below.

Having last week announced a special one-off U.K. concert performing with Lambert at the Sonisphere festival on July 7, legendary rock band QUEEN has announced it will play an additional earlier date with the singer when QUEEN and Lambert appear at Moscow's Olympic Arena on June 30.

These two shows are the only concerts presently planned for QUEEN and Lambert in 2012.

The potent chemistry between QUEEN and Lambert broke the surface when at the invitation of Brian May and Roger Taylor, Lambert joined them for the closing showcase at the recent MTV Europe Music Awards where QUEEN were present to collect their "Global Icon" award.

During a recent interview with NME.com, Lambert insisted that he is not trying to replace the later Freddie Mercury. He said, "The way I look at it is I'm not trying to imitate or outdo him or compete in any way, that's not even in my mind at all, I think it's really an honor to be asked to sing the music that he and the band wrote and get up there and put on a good show. If people are too busy trying to compare, they're not going to enjoy the music."

Although Lambert did not rule out another collaboration with QUEEN in the future, he insisted that for now the Knebworth show is simply a one-off. He told NME.com, "One of the things [people have said] was, 'He's gonna be the permanent frontman of QUEEN.' And although that would be a beautiful experience, the tricky thing this year for me is I also have my album coming out, 'Trespassing', and that's gonna take a lot of work and time and energy. So it's really a one-off experience with the band, and I'm really excited for it. But I'm not joining the band and touring with them."