There is one date confirmed for the 2005 tour of Queen with Paul Rodgers. The band will perform March 19 in South Africa at Fancourt for the Nelson Mandela 46664 AIDS Awareness Concert.
The show will open a tour that travels through England and Europe in the spring and North America in the fall. Paul Rodgers, from the bands Free and Bad Company, impressed the remaining members of Queen when he joined them for several performances this year.
Paul Rodgers and Queen guitarist Brian May performed Free's hit "All Right Now" at a concert in London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar earlier this year. Brian May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor then asked Rodgers to stand in for singer Freddy Mercury, who died in 1991, when the band was featured on a British TV channel's music hall of fame program.
In a note on his Web site, Brian May said there had been "amazing chemistry" when he played alongside Rodgers, adding "It seems blindingly obvious that there was something happening here."
Right now, it doesn't look like bassist John Deacon, the other member of the band, will join the tour.
In addition, on January 4th 2005 "46664 1 Year On" - The EP is to be released for download on iTunes. The EP is to include a studio version of Queen's "Invincible Hope" (see here). Written by Roger Taylor the track was also performed live at the 46664 Concert in Cape South Africa last year.
"The 46664 - 1 Year On" EP contains exclusive tracks that were specially written for Nelson Mandela’s Global 46664 initiative in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
This collection of songs, including unique on-off collaborations by Queen and Nelson Mandela, Paul McCartney and David A. Stewart, Sting and Jimmy Cliff and Da Universal Playaz are the first set of studio tracks to immerge from these incredible sessions.
The tracks were recorded for the campaign which launched at the historic 46664 Concert in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2003. A donation will be made to the Nelson Mandela Foundation in respect of each download sold.
"46664 - 1 Year On" - The EP Tracklisting:
1. Queen Feat Nelson Mandela -Invincible Hope
2. Whole Life - Paul McCartney / David A. Stewart
3. People - Jimmy Cliff Feat. Sting & Tony Rebel
4. Freedom's Coming - Da Universal Playaz
Visit the official website for more details.
"Nelson Mandela Aids Concert: Amandla" feat. Queen on 3 tracks (Rhino, 2004): ORDER IT NOW.
Great to hear QUEEN + Paul Rodgers will contribute in S. Africa, especially after reading the postings about FREE's Andy Fraser also dying of AIDS last week
Posted by: T. Chappell | March 14, 2005 at 09:30 PM
The best night of my life!!!! Queen and paul rodgers ROCK HARD
Posted by: M. Smith | May 05, 2005 at 05:56 PM