11 years since Queen first hooked up with Adam Lambert on American Idol, they have their first release together. Queen+Adam Lambert – Live Around the World is available today on CD and vinyl, along with a visual component on DVD and Blu-ray. Their latest outing started last year following the success of the film Bohemian Rhapsody. The Rhapsody tour was making its way around the world when the pandemic hit.

To help fill the void, this past June 21st, on what would have been the end of the European leg in London, they posted on their YouTube channel the Queen and Adam Lambert Tour Watch Party. One of those watching the hour-long video of concert highlights was drummer Roger Taylor.

RT: “I just thought, ‘Well this is perfect. We’ve had to cancel our tour, why don’t we just let people see this.”

BM: “We got a whole list of tracks that we thought were representative and felt good from all around the world. That’s the exciting part – they genuinely are from everyplace around the world where we’ve played in both hemispheres.”

RT: “It just seemed like the perfect solution to not being on tour.” 

Queen+Adam Lambert – Live Around the World is their first release with Adam. It contains 19 songs from shows in London, Tokyo, Dallas, Lisbon, Los Angeles and New York, and from this past February, their Live Aid set, which they replicated for Fire Fight Australia in Sydney.

“I think for anybody’s that come and seen us live, I think it’s a really cool, sort of commemorative album, you know, for you to sort of recall your experience at our live show, which we’re so proud of. And then for anybody that has not seen us live, it gives you sort of a taste of what that feels like. And, you know, for those that care, I mean I feel very proud of this collection because I think it really sums up, you know, the past decade that I’ve worked with them. It’s a real retrospective, and an amazing adventure of being on the road with one of the greatest rock bands of all time.”

And Roger Taylor has one wish for this new release

“I hope it will cement in people’s minds, you know, that we are a true band with Adam, how great Adam is and how he fits in. And I also think it’s interesting that it comes from all around the world. You know, different shows around the world with great audiences everywhere. I just think it’s uplifting and I hope it brings some joy.”  

In a perfect world, Queen and Adam Lambert will resume their Rhapsody tour next May in Italy.