A UK publication started a frenzy on Friday when they reported that Queen have tapped American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert to front the band and they would be playing headlining the Sonisphere festival this summer.The report carried various quotes from Lambert which do make it sound like he has joined the group, but after the news broke Lambert took to his Twitter account and claimed his quotes were taken out of context.
"Oooh them clever reporters takin my quotes outta context
. I haven't confirmed any guest appearances. I was talking about the Ema's," and followd up with "That being said, I'm truly flattered by your jump to such glorious conclusions mr journalist!!" He later asked for a definition of a word he was reported to have used in his conversation with the publication, "Anyone know what 'shirk' means?," Lambert joked.
Lambert appeared with members of Queen during the American Idol finale for his season as well as the MTV EMA this past November where they performed "We Are The Champions."
"The EMAs" would be reference to his appearance last November with Queen at the MTV Europe Awards, when they collaborated on a rousing rendition of 'We Are the Champions.' Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor also joined Lambert onstage to rock 'Champions' when Lambert won 'Idol' back in 2009.
The Daily Star report carried various quotes from Lambert which make it sound like he was taking about joining the group and not his past appearances but he could have just as well been taking about the possibility of working with them again in the future. The quotes are as follows:
"The intention is to pay tribute to Freddie and the band by singing some f*****g great songs. It's to keep the music alive for the fans and give it an energy that Freddie would have been proud of."
"After the EMAs, I heard faint little slithers of a backlash from people saying: 'You can't replace Freddie Mercury.' But I already knew that.
"There's no intention in my mind of replacing Freddie. That's impossible.
"The way I'm choosing to view it is that it's a great honour and one I'm in no way going to shirk."
"Being asked to front Queen is the best thing that can possibly happen."
However, it does appear that the members of Queen are working on something with Lambert. Gibson reports this past December, Queen drummer Roger Taylor had fueled speculation that Lambert might soon join him and guitarist Brian May. Taylor said, "[Lambert] has grown into a really great performer with an astonishing voice. We would like to work with him again. There's nothing signed just yet but we're talking about live dates." more