Legendary Singer PAUL RODGERS On Freddie Mercury - "I Loved Him To Pieces And I Had A Great Deal Of Respect For Him”
November 11, 2008, 15 years ago
Legendary singer PAUL RODGERS (ex-BAD COMPANY, FREE) spoke to Ben East from Dubai's The National recently about a number of topics including the latest QUEEN album, The Cosmos Rocks. A few excerpts from the chat follow:
In the rock shoe-filling stakes, there cannot be a more daunting task than taking on the frontman duties for Queen. Freddie Mercury, to many, was Queen; a flamboyant showman with that tremulous, distinctive voice. Anyone else taking on 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is the stuff of terrible karaoke nightmares.
And yet one brave soul has taken up the challenge. Paul Rodgers, probably most famous for his 1970 hit 'All Right Now' with Free, now finds himself touring the world with the guitarist Brian May and the drummer Roger Taylor. But as Queen + Paul Rodgers, it’s the classic rock comeback given a twist – Rodgers sings the greatest hits in his own way.
“Should I attempt to do Freddie Mercury impressions?” the affable singer ponders as they prepare for their date in Dubai. “Nobody should attempt to do Freddie Mercury impressions. Only Freddie Mercury could do Freddie Mercury. He was absolutely brilliant – I loved him to pieces and I had a great deal of respect for him.”It’s this sense of respect – for the songs as much as the memory of Mercury – which means Rodgers approaches them in his own way. After all, there would be nothing more depressingly end-of-pier tribute-band than a full-on recreation with all the costumes. Still, it must have been nerve-racking the first time he prepared to go on stage.
“No, not nerve-racking,” says a man who has, after all, sold millions records with Free and Bad Company. “But it was challenging and extremely exciting. We were rehearsing in this empty auditorium and you had all these cleaning staff popping their heads in going ‘What’s going on!’ And at that point you can feel the power of it all, the intensity of the songs and what they mean to people. It was a good sign, you know, that these songs still had a life.”To read the entire interview head to this location.
