Queen and Adam Lambert are to release their first live album after realizing just how good they are on stage together.
Queen stars Roger Taylor and Brian May locked in on the idea after checking out concert clips for their hour-long Tour Watch Party highlights show, which aired online earlier this summer (2020) – and featured footage from eight years of concerts around the world.
“We hadn’t really watched those clips before; we were always too busy touring,” drummer Taylor explains. “We weren’t aware of how good the band sounded. So we thought, ‘Well, maybe there’s a live album of highlights of concerts that we’ve done over the last eight years with Adam Lambert to be made’.”
The double album, Live Around The World, which drops on October 2, 2020, will feature concert highlights selected by Taylor, May, and Lambert from over 200 shows they have performed, including their full 20-minute set from one of their very last performances prior to the COVID-19 lockdown – the Fire Fight Australia benefit. The band recreated its 1985 Live Aid set in full for the charity gig.
“As we all grapple with the challenge of creating live shows in a world dominated by a formidable viral enemy, it seemed the perfect time for us to create a collection of hand-picked live highlights from our Queen shows over the last seven years with our brother Adam Lambert,” May adds.
“It’s a first! As you watch and listen to these tracks you’ll be journeying all around the world with us, and experiencing a complete virtual live set. The collection climaxes in Sydney earlier this year when, in support Fire Fight Australia, we recreated the complete Queen Live Aid set. It was a historic event for a great cause, with perhaps the highest adrenaline level since the original Live Aid in 1985. It makes me particularly happy that we can now share this unique moment with the whole world.”
