6.7.14 Only 12 days to go -- it is all I can think about! ;)

I've got a nephew (age 35) who was a Queen fan back in the 90's, but does not follow them now. He is skeptical about QAL (not a reality show kind of guy) and I want to show him a couple of videos to win him over. I don't want to overwhelm him or seem like I'm pushing too much! Does anyone have any suggestions?

I do not think this is Brian and Roger's doing. I think that it is a combination of how good Adam is performing this music and the reviews of iHR MF (2013) particularly the Rolling Stone review that turned the tide.

Since 2011/2012 the idea of a pop singer fronting Queen has become easier for music critics to deal with. The press in general and the UK press specifically have really never been kind about the idea of anyone fronting Queen post Freddie -- no matter what Brian and Roger said -- except for a one-off special event.

Adam stepped into "Freddie's shoes" with three strikes against him!

1. Adam is knows as a pop singer.

2. Adam is an American and Queen is a British "institution".

3. Adam rose to fame from American Idol. And one thing the UK music critics are sick of are reality show "stars".

Bonus problem -- Adam wears boots, not shoes!

JMHO -- Adam earned respect because he was great in London and won over the audiences there. Adam is so well suited to this music -- particularly as a vocalist who has his own style which is similarly theatrical and operatic like Freddie without being an imitator.

We will see what happens when QAL debuts -- and setting aside the great reviews of QAL at iHR MF 2013, the US critics have rarely been complimentary of Queen.

I do expect that this pop vs. rock vocalist "issue" will appear again.

In 2012, Adam was perceived of and known as a pop singer, not a rock singer. Here is the Guardian review.
 

The Telegraph reviewer was less kind...

Dig through all the UK music critic reviews of QAL London 2012 and the main critique of Adam is that he is a pop singer, not a rock singer. And the fact that Brian May was a huge public supporter of Adam at the time did not matter. He still lacked rock credibility.

Think about it, the "classification" made sense -- Adam released a new pop album in the UK to coincide with the 3 London QAL concerts.

JMHO, I credit Rolling Stone Magazine for turning the tide with their review of Queen + Adam Lambert 2013.

Rolling Stone has never been pro-Queen and this one review was more important in setting the tone for QAL than anything else.

One final thought -- it may be that Adam forces rock critics and fans to come to grips with the uncomfortable fact that one of the greatest rock frontman of all time (Freddie Mercury) was not really a rock singer? But was as much a pop, disco, music hall, theater singer?

It depends what he likes best -- but my suggestion is to give him the link to the entire TV set of the iHeartRadio Music Festival including Nate Ruess/.fun. It is a nice sampler and including the Nate Ruess part shows how great the chemistry between Adam and Brian is, and that the magic of this QAL combo is more than just how Adam can sing the music. They are having fun together and you can even see it in the video.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm not sure why he is a Queen fan. He is visiting here and when the subject came up at a dinner party (that fact that I was going to a QAL concert), I suggested he watch the I Heart radio performance. I'm not sure if he has and I don't want to seem pushy, so I thought maybe if there was one video out there that everyone agreed was musically wonderful, maybe I could e-mail that to him! He is a dancer so he understands about being on a stage, so I'm thinking maybe I should send him "The Show Must Go On."