Queen + Paul Rodgers Split Up

Queen will no longer rock you - at least not with Paul Rodgers.
With a summer reunion tour with Bad Company looming, the singer tells Billboard.com that the Queen + Paul Rodgers collaboration is, in effect, over, and without animosity. "At this point we're gonna sit back from this," Rodgers says. "My arrangement with (Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor) was similar to my arrangement with Jimmy (Page) in The Firm in that it was never meant to be a permanent arrangement.
"I think we made a huge success of it, actually. We did two world tours and a couple of live recordings, and...made a studio album (2008's commercially disappointing 'The Cosmos Rocks') which was pretty historical for (Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor) because they hadn't really gone in the studio with anybody and recorded something like that for a very long time. So it was quite an achievement, I think."
Rodgers does not rule out the possibility of working together again, however. "It's kind of an open book, really. If they approach me to do something for charity, for instance, or something like that...I'd be very much into doing that, for sure."
The Queen + Paul Rodgers project in late 2004, when they joined forces for a set at the inaugural U.K. Music Hall of Fame Awards. They subsequently toured Europe and Japan in 2005 - resulting in the first live album and DVD, "Return Of The Champions" - and North America in 2006. The group will release another concert album and DVD, "Live In Kharkov," on June 16, which was recorded at a televised Sept. 12 performance in the Ukraine to support "The Cosmos Rocks."
Rodgers says he leaves the collaboration with nothing but good memories and the feeling of a job well done.

He wasn't right for them anyway.

I am not surprised, but I also think its a shame.

That combination just didn't work IMO. I'd rather see Bad Company put out a new studio album than hear anything else from this team.

I agree with Manny, I expected it, but view it more as an opportunity lost.

It always seemed like an odd combo to me anyway.

I would've liked to see them explore more, I think it would've been intereting. Was pretty sure the split was inevitable though.

To me, the truth is that you can never have anyone replace Freddy Mercury. It just is not possible. I like Paul Rodgers, but even the best singer in the world will not have the persona that Freddy Mercury had. Don't get me wrong...the remaining members are phenomenal musicians and artists. The chemistry is just not there. I think Queen is better off just releasing instrumental albums from now on.

Or get another singer but drop the Queen moniker.

Neuropete wrote:

To me, the truth is that you can never have anyone replace Freddy Mercury. It just is not possible. I like Paul Rodgers, but even the best singer in the world will not have the persona that Freddy Mercury had. Don't get me wrong...the remaining members are phenomenal musicians and artists. The chemistry is just not there. I think Queen is better off just releasing instrumental albums from now on.

That was a tough spot to be in for both Queen and Paul. If the rest of the band got a Freddy Mercury-clone, they woulda been torn up by the fans and critics saying how dare they try to replace a legend. So they go with a known name, legendary in his own right although polar opposite of Freddy, and fans still don't like it. It was really a no win situation.

I do wonder, however, if the studio album had been more successful, if this collaboration would have carried on.

I maybe would have bought a Rodgers-led studio album, even though me and Queen never clicked.

I guess the world will never know.

SpectreFate wrote:

I maybe would have bought a Rodgers-led studio album, even though me and Queen never clicked.

I guess the world will never know.

They did release a studio album...

Well holy crap, I didn't know that. I thought they just were doing the tour thing. Is the album any good?

SpectreFate wrote:

Well holy crap, I didn't know that. I thought they just were doing the tour thing. Is the album any good?

Dunno myself cuz I have never heard it but Detuned wrote it up hereabouts a while back:

http://www.heartofmetal.net/the-hurting-words-f7/queen-paul-rodgers-the-cosmos-rocks-review-t7726.htm?highlight=queen

Hmmm...sounds interesting. I'll buy it when I see it for a couple of bucks used. Thanks!

Unfortunately I found it pretty boring. They just didn't mesh well. Go listen to samples, i'm curious what you think.

SpectreFate wrote:

Well holy crap, I didn't know that. I thought they just were doing the tour thing. Is the album any good?

Don't know. I never heard it myself, but I think most reviews were pretty tepid. I had the live cd they put out. Scored a free copy from work. I did nothing for me and I sold it on ebay. I'm a casual Queen fan, a mediocre fan of Paul at best, and generally not a fan of live albums. That cd never stood a chance with me.

To me this was an odd pairing. It's not a surprise (at least to me) that this was a short lived project.

TheNazgul wrote:

Unfortunately I found it pretty boring. They just didn't mess well. Go listen to samples, i'm curious what you think.

"Still Burning" is the only sample I cared for. I like Rodgers voice over blues, not whatever that is that Queen plays.

I wrote up a review of it awhile back:

http://www.heartofmetal.net/the-hurting-words-f7/queen-paul-rodgers-the-cosmos-rocks-review-t7726.htm

I wasn't surprised either, I've always been a Paul Rodgers fan when he was in Free, not much else. Although, A Tribute To Muddy Waters was good.

I was disappointed in the studio album.

i was at their Q+PR and i'm happy. PR is crap in voice with 'Queen'. it's good.

Quote :

i was at their Q+PR and i'm happy. PR is crap in voice with 'Queen'. it's good.

TheNazgul wrote:

Quote :

i was at their Q+PR and i'm happy. PR is crap in voice with 'Queen'. it's good.

I think what he's trying to say that he's seen Queen with Paul Rodgers and didn't care for them, also that Paul's voice is not a good fit for Queen, so this break up is a good thing.