Freddie Mercury‘s death in November 1991 was a devastating blow to the music world, but few felt his loss more acutely than his bandmates in Queen.
In a new interview with Good Morning America on Monday, drummer Roger Taylor recalled the difficult period as Queen’s surviving members — guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and himself — struggled to move forward without their legendary frontman.
“We thought it was all over,” says Taylor, 69. “I think Brian and I thought that was the end of that chapter.”
Deacon ultimately retired from music, but Taylor and May vowed to press onward. Between 2004 and 2009 they performed with singer Paul Rodgers, formerly of the bands Bad Company and Free, and released The Cosmos Rocks in 2008. But then one night their future appeared before them — on television.
“A friend of mine called me up and said, ‘I’ve just seen the most amazing singer on American Idol,’” Taylor remembered. The singer’s name was Adam Lambert.
“I checked it out and he was singing ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin and just blowing it away. Fantastic. We got in touch, and we were then asked to do the finale of Idol, which we flew over to do with the two finalists and we just got on magically with Adam.”
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Their on-air collaboration with Lambert quickly blossomed into a long-term partnership. After performing together in November 2011 at the MTV Europe Awards, they made their live concert debut in Kiev in June 2012.
“It sort of grew into touring and we found this magical partnership that works beautifully,” Taylor says.
On the heels of the global success of the Oscar-winning biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen + Adam Lambert will embark on their 39-date Rhapsody Tour this summer.
This unlikely second act for the rock icons will be explored in a new documentary, The Show Must Go On, which airs Monday night at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) on ABC.
“Everything that’s happened, especially since we met Adam, has just been fate unfolding. I guess this film tonight is telling the basic story of that,” says Taylor.
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