Queen and Paul Rodgers biography
Queen + Paul Rodgers (sometimes referred to as Q+PR or QPR) was a supergroup collaboration between Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen and Paul Rodgers (formerly of Bad Company, Free, The Firm and The Law). Guitarist May had previously performed with Rodgers on several occasions, including a performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
It was made clear that Rodgers would not be replacing Queen's former lead singer, Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991. He would simply be "featured with" former Queen members. Former Queen bass guitarist John Deacon declined to participate in the collaboration due to his retirement in 1997. The group's three principal members May, Taylor and Rodgers were supplemented on tour by Queen's former touring keyboard player Spike Edney, rhythm guitarist Jamie Moses, and bass guitarist Danny Miranda who had previously worked with Blue í–yster Cult. Throughout their career the band completed two world tours, issued the first studio album for Queen in nearly 15 years entitled The Cosmos Rocks, and released two live DVDs and a live album.
Rodgers announced in May 2009 that the 'Queen + Paul Rodgers' collaboration had come to an end, saying "it was never meant to be a permanent arrangement". He did, however, leave open the possibility for future collaborations.
The origins of the collaboration came when May played at the Fender Strat Pack concert in 2004. As he had done many times before (but beforehand nothing really happened as far as Queen were concerned), he joined Rodgers for a rendition of Free's classic, "All Right Now". After this, May spoke of a chemistry between the two of them. Following this, May invited Rodgers to play with Queen at their induction to the UK Music Hall of Fame where they played "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions" and "All Right Now". Again citing a new excitement with Rodgers, the three announced their world tour in 2005.
The group's first public performance was at a concert in South Africa in March 2005 in support of Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS awareness campaign. The tour began properly with a concert at the Brixton Academy venue in London, with tickets sold primarily to members of the official Queen fan club. An arena tour of Europe followed in spring 2005, with dates at venues such as Wembley Pavilion, Cardiff International Arena and Le Zénith in France. Four outdoor stadium dates were scheduled for the first time in Portugal at Estadio do Restelo (Att: 30,000), at Rhein-Energie Stadion in Cologne, Germany (Att:27,500), Gelredome in Arnhem, the Netherlands (Att:25,000) and at Hyde Park in the UK (Att:65,000) in the summer of 2005.
The Estadio do Restelo concert took place on 2 July 2005. The Queen + Paul Rodgers concert was planned to be one of the stages for Live 8 but only a message was sent before '39". Two songs were dedicated to Live 8. "Say It's Not True", a song by Taylor for Nelson Mandela's fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, was introduced by Taylor in Lisbon: "This is a song from Nelson Mandela and for HIV/AIDS Africa, especially today on Live 8 day. This is a song to Lisbon." After this song, May dedicated '39" to Bob Geldof and introduced the song: "Olá Lisboa! I would like to make a salute to all our comrades and friends who are doing such a wonderful job and trying that children throughout the world are no longer hungry; let's make a big noise for Bob Geldof and Live 8".
« previous 1 2 3 4 5 next » Biography from 
, the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.