Since Adam Lambert first shared the stage with Queen for the 2009 American Idol final, his dynamic performances have reinvigorated the band and delighted fans worldwide. Their first full show thrilled a half-a-million-strong crowd in Kiev, in June 2012. Since then May and Taylor’s musical fireworks have been matched by Lambert’s vocal prowess and stage presence, making for an explosive combination. Over 180 gigs later, the partnership has proven a commercial and critical triumph, playing to enraptured full houses in every corner of the world.
Completing the tour line-up are long-term collaborators Spike Edney on keyboards, Neil Fairclough on bass, and Tyler Warren on percussion.
Then along came 20th Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie has topped the cinema box office in more than 35 countries around the world since its October 2018 release, drawing worldwide box office receipts approaching $900 million. The excitement the film inspired also saw Queen propelled back into the music charts, where they hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Artist 100 Chart, reminding fans why they loved them and dazzling the previously un-initiated. Bohemian Rhapsody is officially the world’s most-streamed 20th century song, and in NZ, the band scored its highest-charting album in 24 years with the platinum-selling Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack.
When Freddie Mercury sang ‘The Show Must Go On’ all those years ago, even he couldn’t have imagined that Queen’s music would still be thrilling audiences today. Next summer, the stadium stages of New Zealand will be well and truly rocked again.
The New Zealand dates are expected to be part of a wider tour of the region, taking in six stadium shows in Australia and several East Asia dates.
Tickets for the Rhapsody Tour go on sale on Wednesday 17 April from 10am NZST. Check queenonline.com and tegdainty.com for more tour information.
'Unique, special and unforgettable'
– 13thfloor.co.nz
'A beautifully executed tribute to the music that has impacted so many'
– Eventfinda.co.nz
'A joy to behold…the show an absolute delight'
– Stuff.co.nz
'There were no stops on this bicycle ride which conjured up feelings of exhilaration, nostalgia, elation and a healthy pinch or two of melancholy'
– 13thfloor.co.nz
'Queen + Adam Lambert is such a victory both tonally and in substance that it probably surprises even the most diehard fans of both acts'
– NZ Herald
