He added, “It would be nice to create something new. I wouldn’t dismiss the idea. Adam has told us, ‘If you ever want me to sing on something…’ So if the three of us agree to go for it, I’d absolutely be on board.”

The collaboration between May, Taylor, and Adam Lambert dates back to American Idol in May 2009, when they performed “We Are The Champions” together. They reunited in 2011 at the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast, Ireland, delivering a high-energy eight-minute performance of “The Show Must Go On,” “We Will Rock You,” and “We Are The Champions.” By the summer of 2012, Lambert had taken the stage with QUEEN for a series of European shows, including performances in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Since then, they have toured extensively, headlining major festivals across the globe.

Despite their success as a live act, Lambert has previously expressed reservations about recording new music with QUEEN. In a 2019 interview with Hunger magazine, he admitted: “People always ask if we want to record together, but I’m not sure it would make total sense. To me, QUEEN is Freddie. What I love most is collaborating, putting these concerts together, and creating on stage—it’s incredibly rewarding. When I bring new ideas to these two legends and they like them, that’s the best part.”

May has previously praised Lambert as the only singer capable of doing justice to QUEEN’s extensive catalog since Freddie Mercury’s passing in 1991 due to AIDS-related complications. “Adam is the first person we’ve worked with who can handle the entire QUEEN catalog without hesitation,” May stated. “He is a gift from God.” Taylor echoed those sentiments, saying: “He’s incredibly musical, and we certainly take anything he says very seriously.”

For his part, Lambert has always been careful to differentiate himself from Mercury. “There’s never going to be another, and I’m not replacing him,” he explained. “That’s not what this is about. I want to keep his memory alive and remind people of how incredible he was—without trying to imitate him. My goal is to show audiences just how much he inspired me.”

Five years ago, in an interview with Classic Rock magazine, May and Taylor admitted that they had attempted to record a song with Lambert but ultimately decided against releasing it. “We did record a song that we never actually finished,” Taylor revealed at the time. “I can’t even remember what it was called. I think we were still debating the name.” May added, “It was a track we tried adapting from a friend’s original idea. It had potential, but we just couldn’t quite crack it.”

Taylor has remained open to the idea of a new QUEEN album featuring Lambert. Meanwhile, in 2022, QUEEN released a rediscovered song, “Face It Alone,” which featured Mercury’s vocals.

The charity show will raise money for the UK-based charity, The Cancer Awareness Trust, which offers life-extending treatments and support for cancer patients.

Andy Taylor, the band’s former guitarist, has been battling prostate cancer since 2018, revealing his diagnosis last year. The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, however due to Andy’s ongoing health struggles, he was sadly unable to attend.

Andy wrote a letter for bandmate Simon Le Bon to read during the band’s induction, saying, “Just over four years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. Many families have experienced the slow burn of this disease, and of course, we are no different. So I speak from the perspective of a family man but with profound humility to the band, the greatest fans a group could have, and this exceptional accolade.”

Duran Duran announced their plans for the charity concert via social media, titling the show, “A Special Benefit Concert for Andy Taylor and the Fight Against Prostate Cancer.”

Duran Duran will play a benefit concert for The Cancer Awareness Trust following news that friend and former bandmate Andy Taylor had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2018.

It will take place Aug. 19 at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, California. pic.twitter.com/ofZegY8nJt

— Duran Duran (@duranduran) July 13, 2023

In a press statement, frontman Simon Le Bon said, “We are heading to Northern California to play many of the songs that we wrote together with our dear friend, Andy Taylor, to help him and others in their fight against prostate cancer. It is the right thing to do.”

Proceeds from the concert will also go towards a special treatment that will help cancer patients such as Andy Taylor extend their lives.

Duran Duran’s drummer, Roger Taylor, said, “We would like to thank our fans and the organisers of this benefit who have given us the chance to help our longtime friend and colleague Andy Taylor. We have always described ourselves as a ‘band of brothers’ and that has never been more true than in this very moment.”

Sir Chris Evans, founder of The Cancer Awareness Trust, also commented that he was honoured to work with the band. He said, “Andy will receive the latest precision medical treatment, emanating from some recently successful clinical trials, along with the ongoing support that the Cancer Awareness Trust is providing. The incredible support of Duran Duran will mean many more people will benefit just like Andy has.”

The show is set to take place on 19th August 2023 at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, California. Presale tickets for the Duran Duran VIP Fan Community go on sale at noon PT on 17th July 2023, with general sale following at noon PT on 19th July 2023. Tickets are available to purchase here.

The band also shared a contest in which they will offer a lucky fan and a plus one the opportunity to win VIP tickets, with all entries supporting The Cancer Awareness Trust.  

You and a friend could win a spot on Duran Duran’s VIP guest list for an intimate performance in Northern California — front-row seats, an exclusive backstage tour, signed merch and more!

Enter to win at https://t.co/OV9RDIlJ7w

Entries support The Cancer Awareness Trust. pic.twitter.com/PxgnOwqqc5

— Duran Duran (@duranduran) July 13, 2023

Duran Duran announced their plans to record new tracks with Andy Taylor for their upcoming album earlier this year. Read more here.

The band’s team took to Twitter, writing “Duran Duran are thrilled to confirm a special new music project is in the works, set for release later this year on BMG.”

They continued, “The new recordings will feature extended Duran Duran family and friends, old and new, including our former band mate Andy Taylor who will join us on guitar on a few tracks.”

Duran Duran are set to begin their “Future Past” tour next month, with the Twitter post concluding, “Simon, Nick, John and Roger look forward to seeing you all out on the road this year!”

pic.twitter.com/BqBoWZ7a6x

— Duran Duran (@duranduran) March 20, 2023

This project will be the first time that Duran Duran have worked with their original guitarist, Andy Taylor, since his departure from the band back in 2006.

Andy Taylor was intending to reunite with the band when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year. However, his ongoing struggle with prostate cancer meant that this was unable to happen.

Speaking to 5 News about his diagnosis, Andy said, “You really wanna get the most out of life.”

“I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve had so much, in terms of living the dream, but because I do music, I think that’s probably really helped me to live with pessimism of an incurable disease.”

Andy wrote an emotional letter celebrating his time in the band when the news of their induction broke, saying, “You can dream about what happened to us but to experience it, on one’s own terms, as mates, was beyond incredible. I would like to thank each of my brothers in this great band.”

Following Andy’s withdrawal from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, Duran Duran bassist John Taylor spoke to The Mirror, saying, “When he dropped the bomb two days before the Hall of Fame, it was really shocking and terribly sad. We’re working on an album right now that is going to be coming out at the end of the year and he’s playing guitar.”

Revealing more about what’s to be expected from this upcoming project, John continued, “Had he come to LA and just gone on the TV show, we probably wouldn’t have even thought about it. That [the album] happened as a result of this. There’s a lot of cover songs on the album, songs meaningful to us when we were kids. So having him be a part of that project is great.”

John briefly spoke about the recording process for the new project, sharing, “Le Bon is flying to Ibiza to work with Andy. I kind of wish I was there. I think it’ll be great. It’ll be really profound for them. They haven’t been in the studio together in maybe 10 to 20 years.”

Both Duran Duran and Andy seem happy to leave their infamous rift in the past, with Andy writing “Now for the bad blood, well the good news is that there is none, just pure love and respect for everything we wrote, recorded and achieved together. What’s the point? There’s no stopping this 44-year thing called ‘Duran Duran.'”

Purchase tickets for the “Future Past” tour here.

29/04/2023 – AO Arena – Manchester

01/05/2023 – The O2 – London

02/05/2023 – The O2 – London

04/05/2023 – First Direct Arena – Leeds

05/05/2023 – Utilita Arena Birmingham – Birmingham

07/05/2023 – 3Arena – Dublin

09/05/2023 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow

Stream Duran Duran’s discography here.

“I’m happy that our team were able to find this track,” said guitarist Brian May, “After all these years, it’s great to hear all four of us, yes, Deacy is there too, working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed… until now.” The album will not only feature this lost track but it will also include some of the band’s conversations in studios in London and Montreux, Switzerland.“It was kind of hiding in plain sight,” May continued, “We looked at it many times and thought, oh, no, we can’t really rescue that. But, in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, ok, we can do this and this. It’s kind of stitching bits together.”

Roger Taylor, Queen’s drummer, went on to say that they had “kind of forgotten about this track,” but described the song as “wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.” This will mark the first new song featuring Freddie Mercury since the Queen Forever album which was released in 2014. It featured three unheard tracks: ‘Love Kills’, ‘Let Me In Your Heart Again’, and ‘There Must Be More to Life Than This’.

The original release of The Miracle went to number one in the UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland and received critical acclaim with Rolling Stone saying: “The Miracle is a showcase for Freddie Mercury and his love of sweeping, quasi-operatic vocals. And indeed, Mercury – especially on the title track – has never sounded better…”

Queen formed in 1970 and went on to be one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. Their 1981 Greatest Hits album is the best-selling album in the UK and has been certified nine times platinum in the US. The band comprised of Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) and John Deacon (bass). Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991 from AIDs-related complications. He performed for the final time with Queen at Knebworth in 1986. Today, Roger Taylor and Brian May still perform as Queen with Adam Lambert on vocals.

London! Please welcome the first wave of special guests to join The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts! More to be announced soon.

Tickets on sale Friday 17 June at 9am local time. pic.twitter.com/6vsdo2n5js

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) June 15, 2022

While there are yet to be any names confirmed for the Los Angeles date, there’s still plenty of time for information to surface. Tickets to the London show go on sale here this Friday (June 17^th) so if you were ever on the fence about whether or not to bag a ticket, then presumably this first announcement will have swayed you.

Along with the announcement of the shows, the Hawkins family also released a statement showing their gratitude towards the community created by Foo Fighters, and the general music scene he affected so greatly.

“As Taylor’s wife, and on behalf of our children, I want to share how much you meant to him and how dedicated he was to ‘knocking your socks off’ during every performance. Taylor was honoured to be a part of the Foo Fighters and valued his dream role in the band every minute of his 25 years with them. We consider every band member and the extended Foo Fighters team our family.
“Taylor’s endearing spirit and deep love of music will live on forever through the collaborations he so enjoyed having with other musicians and the catalogue of songs he contributed to and created.
“In celebration of his life, it is now up to all of us who loved him most to honour Taylor’s legacy and the music he gave us.”

 While some of the appearances may come as a slight surprise, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush, for instance, many of them are clear to even the public eye. Foo Fighters’ relationship with Brian May and Roger Taylor (from Queen, obviously) goes way back to the In Your Honour tour where the band played with the pair for a rendition of ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ featuring Hawkins on lead vocals. You can watch the performance below.

Recently sharing their revelation over the weekend on a special Zoe Ball broadcast on BBC 2 celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Taylor revealed “We did find a little gem from Freddie that we’d kind of forgotten about, and it’s wonderful. Actually, it was a real discovery. It’s from the Miracle Sessions and I think it’s going to be out in September.” September will feel like all but a few days away by the time it rolls around for Queen fans who have been patiently waiting for moments like these to arrive since Mercury’s tragic passing in November of 1991. The song is called “Face It Alone” as reported by the Metro, and will be the first time the band have released new material featuring Freddie since their 2014 compilation album Queen Forever, which similarly comprised of “forgotten” songs sung by the unparalleled vocalist. Check out the video below to hear one.

When asked about how the gem was uncovered, Brian May said “It was kind of hiding in plain sight. We looked at it many times and thought, ‘Oh no, we can’t really rescue that’. But in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, ‘OK, we can do this and this’. It’s like stitching bits together. But it’s beautiful. It’s touching.”

The song was originally recorded for the bands second to last 1989 album The Miracle which consisted of songs like “I Want It All” and “Breakthru”, but was cut from the record. Now, in the permanent void of Mercury’s untimely death in November of 1991, most will feel this discovery from the cutting room floor to be somewhat of a miracle itself. With Taylor going on to call the song a “very passionate piece”, fans of the iconic vocalist and treasured band are hopefully in for quite an emotive treat, with the release due to grace our ears later in the year.

The band is also set to release their fifteenth studio album Future Past on October 22nd. The album features artists Tove Lo, Chai, David Bowie’s former pianist Mike Garson, Blur’s guitarist Graham Coxon and Mark Ronson who co-wrote and plays on the single “Wing”.

Pre-order the band’s forthcoming album FUTURE PAST from the official album store for access to pre-sale tickets!

For more information, read below and visit the official album store at: https://t.co/864LEUop5C pic.twitter.com/Pfw3dBMmT3

— Duran Duran (@duranduran) August 24, 2021

The band were formed in 1978 by Nick Rhodes (Keyboardist, synthesizer, vocal effects, backing vocalist and electronic effects) and John Taylor (Bassist and backing vocalists). Rhodes and Taylor remain in today’s lineup with frontman Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor (Drummer and percussionist).  Guitarist Andy Taylor is no longer part of the group lineup following his second departure in 2006.

The band has sold over 100 million records and are considered one of the world’s best selling musical artists. They were part of the New Romantic era and achieved success with their debut single “Planet Earth”. The single from their debut album Duran Duran reached number 20 in the UK Official Single Charts 

The band also achieved chart success with singles “Girls on Film”, “The Wild Boys”, “The Reflex”, “Save a Prayer” and “Hungry Like The Wolf”.The band released their second single from their new album “More Joy” on August 5th and will perform their intimate homecoming concerts at the 02 Birmingham Institute that holds a capacity of 1,500. The band will be performing tracks from their new album as well as other band favourites.      

Wow! @duranduran will be playing 2 special “small venue” shows at the @O2InstituteBham on Sept 14 & 15. Fan Community members have 1st access to tickets via a pre-sale on Tuesday, August 24th at 9am local venue time. Login at https://t.co/xRYPhpa8jS & click the pre-sale page. pic.twitter.com/CWMo4RNcL4

— Duran Duran (@duranduran) August 23, 2021

Duran Duran’s Tour dates are below. Tickets are available here

14/09/21 02 Institute- Birmingham
15/09 02 Institute- Birmingham
16/09 Isle of Wight Festival- Newport
17/09 Scarbarough Open Air Theatre- Scarborough
19/09 Isle of Wight Festival- Newport
12/06 St Anne’s Park-Dublin
29/06 The Proms Arena- Lancashire
01/07 The Proms Arena- Lancashire
10/07  London Hyde Park

“We’re All Just Trying To Get By” was written during “the dark depths of lockdown” but looks at the positives of being human and our need to survive. The song is an achingly beautiful ballad and a classy curtain-raiser to his upcoming album. There is a dreamy pop feel with a sweeping widescreen melody combined with a profound and uplifting message. Listen to his latest track below.

The Queen drummer said of the track “I tried to highlight the great things in life. It’s the simplest statement really. It’s what every life force on Earth is doing: just trying to get by and proliferate and exist. That’s all we are trying to do, from plants to animals to humans, trying to survive. For all our troubles and everything, every sort of life is all just trying to get by. Also, of course, we are in the middle of a bloody pandemic… I mean, even the coronavirus is just trying to get by too!”

He then added of Tunstall’s involvement “The track was all finished and it was suggested it might be nice if we got KT involved. I love what she did, I think it really adds to the track. And she’s very clever. I think people forget that she was really the pioneer as far as I know of looping, the looping technique which obviously Ed Sheeran is brilliant at and has made very popular. But I remember her doing it, what, 15 years ago? Fantastic. She’s a very talented singer and musician and it’s lovely to have her on the track. It’s a very nice partnership.”

Tunstall was all too glad to be a part of the song “It was the coolest surprise Roger getting in touch during lockdown and asking me to lend my vocals to this great and meaningful song. What a pleasure to work with such a brilliant writer and musical hero.”

Outsider will be released on October 1 on the following formats: 1LP 180g Black Vinyl, 1LP 180g Transparent Blue Colour Vinyl, 1x Transparent Blue Colour Cassette, 1CD, Digital Download and streaming. You can Pre-order here.

Taylor is also is set to play cuts from his latest release along with some Queen classics on a 14-date UK tour this autumn. The tour begins on October 2 at Newcastle’s O2 Academy before ending at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on October 22 – see all the details here.

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The tour will include songs from the upcoming album, but the 71-year-old has shared that some classic songs from Queen’s repertoire will also be included along the way. He’ll have help from some friends as well, including a few who have played alongside Queen during previous tours. The musical team will be comprised of Queen + Adam Lambert’s keyboardist Spike Edney and supporting drummer Tyler Warren, guitarist Jason Falloon and keyboardist Angie Pollock and bassist Charlie Jones, who both play for electronic duo Goldfrapp.

Taylor seems grateful to have gotten this group together after such a long time of not playing live, saying, “For some time now, we’ve all just been trying to get by. Now, it’s back to the basics, myself and some great musical pals getting back out there to play some rock.” This will be his first tour since Queen’s European/UK leg of their Rhapsody tour had to be postponed to 2022. 

The legendary rocker will make stops in many UK cities between 2-22 October, such as Liverpool and Nottingham. His forthcoming album has a comparatively quick turnaround time after his last release ‘Fun on Earth’ from 2013. With regards to how quickly he finished the album, Taylor shares, “I’ve had a bit of a creative spurt and suddenly found myself with an album, which was lovely. It was a surprise. I just found myself in the studio and they came out one after the other. It was a pleasure really.” The ease with which he wrote the album will no doubt show up in the performances.

You can preorder the album now, and by doing that, have access to presale tickets when they go on sale at 10am on 8 June. Details can be found on his website here, and the tour dates are listed below.

Outsider Tour UK Tour Dates
02/10/2021 – O2 Academy – Newcastle
03/10 – Academy – Manchester
05/10 – Barbican – York
06/10 – St. David’s Hall – Cardiff
08/10 – O2 Academy – Liverpool
09/10 – University East Anglia (UEA) – Norwich
11/10 – Forum – Bath
12/10 – O2 Academy – Bournemouth
14/10 – Pavilions – Plymouth
15/10 – Rock City – Nottingham
17/10 – De La Warr Pavilion – Bexhill
19/10 – G Live – Guildford
20/10 – HMV Empire – Conventry
22/10 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – London

Speaking to Edward Stourton, Taylor said: “Personally, I thought touring in Europe was the most interesting place to tour… Rock and roll, and our brand of music, is pretty much accepted everywhere within Europe, so that was an amazing thing – to find all these completely different types of audiences, different languages, all really getting off on our music.” 

Taylor was one of over 100 musicians to sign an open letter to the government calling for a better Brexit deal for musicians, after no agreement was reached to secure visa-free travel for touring artists. Others to sign the letter included Ed Sheeran, Sting, Sir Elton John, Liam Gallagher and Taylor’s bandmate Brian May. Taylor added in the interview: “Borders – what a dreadful invention of mankind. And so we’re just putting up another one. I think it’s a dreadful retrograde step.” 

On the topic of the impact of both Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic on touring musicians, Taylor mused: “I know, for instance, all our road crew, all the guys who make our touring work, they’re the ones who have suffered – not so much for the artists, we can fall back on our song-writing and our publishing. They can’t – it’s a daily, weekly job for them. And so it’s made it really hard for our industry.” 

The government debated on the petition to allow visa-free travel for musicians in parliament on 8th February. The government’s official response states: “The EU turned down our proposals on the basis that musicians were providing a service which they viewed as necessitating a work permit and/or visa. This outcome is regrettable, however there is scope to return to this issue in the future should the EU change its mind.” 

This month, Queen + Adam Lambert announced that they have been forced to postpone their tour due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Their tour of the UK and Europe was originally due to take place in 2020 and was pushed back to 2021, but now been scheduled for May, June and July of 2022. The band have added additional dates in Glasgow.

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