Former Journey singer Jeff Scott Soto is to front a new Queen tribute band recruited by drummer Roger Taylor.
The Queen Extravaganza will hit the road for 25 dates in Quebec, Canada next month (May12).
Soto will be one of four vocalists backed by musicians handpicked by Taylor following an extensive online talent search for the tour.
Taylor tells Billboard.com, "It's been a fascinating thing and a real stab in the dark, in a way. I'm trying to cram our entire career, in an encapsulated form, into one show - that's why we have four lead singers, to cover that kind of breadth of material.
"There are a lot of other (tributes) going around representing our work; some of them are very good, but I wanted there to be a really great, first-class option. So we've formed our own sort of authorized band to play our canon... with all the things we can bring to bear - the film clips nobody's ever seen and all the production tricks that we've accumulated over the years."
Taylor will be behind the scenes with Extravaganza for the first dates, but he won't be drumming: "I think that's not a good idea. It corrupts the idea in a way. It'd feel like giving it an artificial push, which I don't think it'll need. I want it to stand on its own. I think we've got a great band that's more than capable of doing that."
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Clearly Martel isn't diverse enough to cover all the necessary ground for the show, so they had to hire two more singers.
I must be the only person who wasn't impressed with his video of Somebody To Love sung from his bedroom. I've worked with dozens of singers who are better.
Glad Soto got the gig and will be doing most of the heavy lifting.
The Real Wizard wrote:
Clearly Martel isn't diverse enough to cover all the necessary ground for the show, so they had to hire two more singers.
I must be the only person who wasn't impressed with his video of Somebody To Love sung from his bedroom. I've worked with dozens of singers who are better.
Glad Soto got the gig and will be doing most of the heavy lifting.
You're not the only one, I was never impressed by Martel. Just another average youtuber.
I'd rather he was fronting Queen instead of that talent tosspot Lambert.
I can only surmise that Brian & Roger are trying (desperately) to launch Lambert in the UK.
Somehow, I don't think it's going to work.