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Exclusive: Queen's Brian May Addresses Adam Lambert Rumors
by Brian Hiatt
May 22, 2009 5:25 PM ET

After Adam Lambert's killer performance with Queen on Wednesday night's season finale of American Idol, rumors flew that he had already been offered a job singing with the band. That's slightly premature, according to the band's guitarist, Brian May. "Amongst all that furor, there wasn't really a quiet moment to talk," May tells Rolling Stone in an e-mail interview. "But [drummer Roger Taylor] and I are definitely hoping to have a meaningful conversation with him at some point. It's not like we, as Queen, would rush into coalescing with another singer just like that. It isn't that easy. But I'd certainly like to work with Adam. That is one amazing instrument he has there."

May, whose band recently ended a four-year-long partnership with singer Paul Rodgers, is comfortable with Idol as a launching point for the careers of rock singers. "You'd have to define 'legitimate' first," he writes. "The long-term answer has to be that, if you have enough talent and enough will to succeed, you will get there by whatever route presents itself. Once you have scaled the castle walls, with the sword in your hand, it matters little how you got there. I've not always been positive about shows like this, but there is no doubt that it offers a door to some real genuine talent along the way."

"Both those boys are well worthy of big success," May continues, in regard to Lambert and Idol winner Kris Allen. "So it's pointless for someone like me to stand on the sidelines jeering. I'm confident Adam will make great use of this wonderful opportunity. I hope I'm there to see it."

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The reunited Queen, deemed "pretty much done" earlier this month, may not be so done after all. Though the band's most recent singer, Paul Rodgers, has left the group, guitarist Brian May has expressed interest in working with American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert.

"It's not like we, as Queen, would rush into coalescing with another singer just like that," May told Rolling Stone this week. "But I'd certainly like to work with Adam. That is one amazing instrument he has there."

May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor performed on last week's American Idol TV finale, performing We Are the Champions alongside Lambert and eventual winner Kris Allen. "Amongst all that furore, there wasn't really a quiet moment to talk," May said. "But [Roger] and I are definitely hoping to have a meaningful conversation with [Lambert] at some point."

After four years as Queen + Paul Rodgers, including the release of one studio album, Queen and their Freddy Mercury replacement recently parted ways. Rodgers is to tour with the reunited Bad Company.

As for Lambert, the 27-year-old expressed great enthusiasm for further Queen team-ups. "Queen is one of my all-time favourite bands," he said in a press conference. "I would love to work with [them]."

And while some might mock the rock'n'roll credentials of a reality TV show winner, May brushed these prejudices aside. "If you have enough talent and enough will to succeed, you will get there," he said. "Once you have scaled the castle walls, with the sword in your hand, it matters little how you [did it]." Maybe he should put in a phone call to Susan Boyle.