The soaring success of “Bohemian Rhapsody” — the Freddie Mercury/QUEEN movie that is set to become the biggest grossing music biopic of all time — has proven that the public’s love for QUEEN remains as strong as ever. Longtime fans and recent converts will be thrilled to discover then, that QUEEN — original bandmembers Brian May and Roger Taylor, teaming up once more with longtime frontman Adam Lambert on lead vocals — will return to North America next year. Produced by Live Nation, the epic 23-date arena and stadium “Rhapsody” tour is set to run from mid-July through late August with an all new concert experience.
Tickets for the “Rhapsody” tour go on sale to the general public starting December 7 at LiveNation.com at 10 a.m. local time. QUEEN and Adam Lambert fan-club pre-sales will run from 10 a.m. local time through 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, December 6.
Going under the “Rhapsody” header, the six-week tour will debut a brand new larger-than-life production. Stufish Entertainment Architects’ set designer Ric Lipson says: “QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT’s ‘Rhapsody’ tour will, once again for them, expand the parameters of what a live music experience can be. This new show promises to be their most spectacular yet, an innovative and interactive celebration of the continued power of QUEEN’s music.”
The tour follows an acclaimed run of 10 sold-out shows at the MGM Park Theater, Las Vegas in September 2018 and will kick off July 10 at Vancouver Rogers Arena. Stop-offs include some of the most history-packed venues in the U.S. and Canada, including The Forum in Los Angeles (the last venue the original lineup played in North America on September 15, 1982) and New York City’s Madison Square Garden (the site of past QUEEN glories, including a memorable performance from QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT on July 17, 2014). It will wrap August 23 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Announcing the “Rhapsody” tour, Taylor said: “We are ready for America and raring to get back in the saddle.”
Lambert said: “We have been designing a brand new visual spectacle that will reframe these iconic songs and we are excited to unveil it!”
May added: “This is a great opportunity. Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever, and got us our best notices ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious! Watch out, America!”
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 together — starting as they meant to go on — thrilled a half-a-million-strong crowd in the Ukraine capital city of 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 lineup are long-term collaborator Spike Edney on keyboards, Neil Fairclough on bass, and Tyler Warren on percussion.
Watch the tour trailer below
Never known to rest on their laurels, QUEEN on this “Rhapsody” tour will unveil a stage show as experimental and rule-defying as the hit-packed QUEEN back catalog. The band has worked with the creative partners behind the eye-popping “News Of The World” 2017 tour — Ric Lipson of Stufish Entertainment Architects handling set design; Rob Sinclair on lighting design; and Sam Pattinson of Treatment Studio behind the video content — to develop an unmissable show.
20th Century Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” has topped the cinema box office in more than 35 countries around the world since its late October release, drawing worldwide box office receipts in excess of $500 million. The excitement the film inspired also saw QUEEN propelled back on to the music charts, where they hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Artist 100 chart, reminding fans why they loved them and dazzling the previously-uninitiated. In the U.S., the band scored its highest-charting album in 38 years with the “Bohemian Rhapsody” soundtrack (Hollywood Records), which surged from #25 to #3 on the Billboard 200 chart on November 17, reached the top of the Billboard Rock Albums chart and were Spotify’s most streamed artist in the world for the week ending November 22. In the same week, QUEEN’s “Greatest Hits Vol I, II & III: The Platinum Collection” rocketed from #194 to #9 on the Billboard 200 and they had a jaw-dropping 22 songs charting on the Digital Rock Tracks chart including seven of the Top 10.
In the U.K., the release of “Bohemian Rhapsody” has also given a healthy boost to QUEEN’s music on streaming services. “Rhapsody” remains their most popular, with 50.4 million streams, followed by “Don’t Stop Me Now” on 46.1 million plays.
When Freddie sang “The Show Must Go On” all those years back, even he couldn’t have guessed that QUEEN music would still be storming the charts in 2018. Next summer, the stages of North America will be well and truly rocked again. You can’t help thinking Freddie would be overjoyed.
TOUR DATES
July 10 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
July 12 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
July 14 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center
July 16 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena
July 19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
July 23 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
July 24 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
July 27 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
July 28 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
July 30 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
July 31 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
August 03 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
August 04 – Boston, MA – Xfinity Center
August 06 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
August 09 – Chicago, IL – United Center
August 10 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
August 13 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
August 15 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
August 17 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – BB&T Center
August 18 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
August 20 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
August 22 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
August 23 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
Tickets on sale December 7th at LiveNation.com
Pre-sale December 6th
