Queen’s Roger Taylor recalls discovering Adam Lambert as new singer after Freddie Mercury

When Freddie Mercury died in 1991, it was clear that no one could replace the iconic Queen singer. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop the band collaborating with vocalists, all the while being careful not to label them as Freddie’s replacement. From 2004-2009, Brian May and Roger Taylor worked with Paul Rodgers, before forming Queen + Adam Lambert in 2011. Ahead of a new ABC documentary on the partnership that aired in the US last night, Taylor took part in an interview promoting the film on Good Morning America.

Taylor revealed how the rest of Queen thought the band was done after Freddie’s death. However, he admitted that everything since, and especially discovering Lambert, was “fate unfolding.”

The Queen drummer even recalled how he discovered the singer when watching American Idol in 2009.

Taylor said: “A friend of mine called me up and said, ‘I’ve just seen the most amazing singer on American Idol.’

“I checked it out and [Lambert] was singing Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin and just blowing it away. Fantastic.”

In fact, Taylor was so blown away that Queen contacted American Idol and asked to be on the show so they could try performing with Lambert.

The drummer continued: “We got in touch, and we were then asked to do the finale of Idol, which we flew over to do with the two finalists and we just got on magically with Adam.”

Following the performance, Lambert did the occasional show with Queen in 2011, before beginning to tour in 2012.