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 band members Brian May and Roger Taylor, teaming up once more with longtime front man 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 7th at Live Nation at 10AM local time. Queen and Adam Lambert Fan Club Presales will run from 10AM local time through 10PM local time on Thursday, December 6th.
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 and 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 begin on July 10th at Vancouver Rogers Arena. Stop-offs include some of the most history-packed venues in the US and Canada, including The Forum in Los Angeles (the last venue the original line-up played in North America on September 15th, 1982) and New York City’s Madison Square Garden (the site of past Queen glories, including a memorable performance from Queen and Adam Lambert on July 17th, 2014). It will wrap August 23rd at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC.
Announcing their Rhapsody tour Roger Taylor said, “We are ready for America and raring to get back in the saddle.”
Adam Lambert said, “We have been designing a brand new visual spectacle that will reframe these iconic songs and we are excited to unveil it.”
With Brian May adding, “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…”
…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 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 US, the band scored its highest-charting album in 38 years with the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack (Hollywood Records), which surged from No. 25 to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart on November 17th, reached the top of the Billboard Rock Albums chart and were Spotify’s most streamed artist in the world for the week ending November 22nd. Rolling Stone called the album “more than just a greatest hits”, praising it as “a fun imaginative way to relive the band’s genius.” In the same week, Queen’s Greatest Hits Vol I, II & III: The Platinum Collection rocketed from No. 194 to No. 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 UK 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.
Queen Rhapsody Tour Dates:
July:
10 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
12 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
14 San Jose, CA SAP Center
16 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena
19 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
23 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
24 Houston, TX Toyota Center
27 Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena
28 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
30 Washington, DC Capital One Arena
31 Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena
August:
3 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
4 Boston, MA Xfinity Center
6 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
9 Chicago, IL United Center
10 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
13 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
15 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
17 Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center
18 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
20 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
22 Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena
23 Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center
2 Responses
Strike while the irons hot! Sets up well for perhaps appearance at Academy Awards? Hmmm….
Bingo…want to see the movie – looks good.