After the soaring success of Bohemian Rhapsody – the Freddie Mercury/Queen movie that is set to become the biggest grossing music biopic of all time – fans can now enjoy a full concert experience, featuring original band members Brian May and Roger Taylor, along with Adam Lambert on lead vocals, as part of a 23-city North America summer tour next year that includes a stop in Toronto at the Scotia Bank Arena on July 28, 2018.

The tour follows an acclaimed run of 10 sold-out shows at the MGM Park Theater, Las Vegas in September 2018 and will kick off July 10th at Vancouver Rogers Arena.  Stop-offs include some of the most history-packed venues in the US and Canada, including The Forum in Los Angeles (the last venue the original line-up played in North America on September  15, 1982) and New York City’s Madison Square Garden (the site of past Queen glories, including a memorable performance from Queen + Adam Lambert on July 17, 2014). It will wrap August 23rd at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC. Never known to rest on their laurels, Queen on this Rhapsody tour will unveil a stage show as experimental and rule-defying as the hit-packed Queen back catalog. 

Since Adam Lambert first shared the stage with Queen for the 2009 American Idol final, his dynamic performances have reinvigorated the band and delighted fans worldwide. Their first full show together – starting as they meant to go on – thrilled a half-a-million-strong crowd in the Ukraine capital city of Kiev in June 2012. Since then May and Taylor’s musical fireworks have been matched by Lambert’s vocal prowess and stage presence, making for an explosive combination. Over 180 gigs later, the partnership has proven a commercial and critical triumph, playing to enraptured full houses in every corner of the world. Adam Lambert said: “We have been designing a brand new visual spectacle that will reframe these iconic songs and we are excited to unveil it!” Brian May stated, “Adam is a real gift from God. He’s a voice in a billion. Nobody has that range – nobody that I’ve ever worked with – and not just the range but the quality throughout the range. I’ve seen Adam develop just like I watched Freddie develop.”

Then along came 20th Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie has topped the cinema box office in more than 35 countries around the world since its late October release, drawing worldwide box office receipts in excess of $500 million. The excitement the film inspired also saw Queen propelled back on to the music charts, where they hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Artist 100 Chart, reminding fans why they loved them and dazzling the previously-uninitiated. In the US, the band scored its highest-charting album in 38 years with theBohemian Rhapsody soundtrack (Hollywood Records), which surged from No. 25 to No. 3 on the Billboard200 chart on November 17, reached the top of the Billboard Rock Albums chart and were Spotify’s most streamed artist in the world for the week ending November 22. In the same week, Queen’sGreatest Hits Vol I, II & III: The Platinum Collection rocketed from No. 194 to No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and they had a jaw-dropping 22 songs charting on the Digital Rock Tracks chart including seven of the Top 10.

When Freddie sang The Show Must Go On all those years back, even he couldn’t have guessed that Queen music would still be storming the charts in 2018. Next summer, the stages of North America will be well and truly rocked again. You can’t help thinking Freddie would be overjoyed.

Tickets for the Rhapsody tour go on sale to the general public starting December 7th at LiveNation.com at 10AM local time.   Queen and Adam Lambert Fan Club Presales will run from 10AM local time through 10PM local time on Thursday, December 6th.

Queen 2019 Tour Dates

July 10, 2019 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
July 12 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
July 14 – San Jose, CA @ SAP Center
July 16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Arena
July 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
July 23 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
July 24 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
July 27 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
July 28 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
July 30 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
July 31 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
August 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
August 4 – Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center
August 6 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
August 9 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
August 10 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
August 13 – Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
August 15 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
August 17 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ BB&T Center
August 18 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
August 20 – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
August 22 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
August 23 – Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center

Adam Lambert

After blowing everyone away on the eighth season of American Idol, Adam Lambert went on to release his debut album, For Your Entertainment, which included the international hit Whatya Want From Me and earned him a Grammy Award nomination. Adam followed this success with his second album, Trespassing, which became the first album to reach the No. 1 spot in the US and Canada by an openly gay artist. His highly-anticipated third album, The Original High,  was executive produced by Max Martin and Shellback and included the smash hit Ghost Town. Adam joined the cast of Glee for a six-episode story in 2013 and performed the role of Eddie in Fox’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He went on to judge on The X Factor Australia where the artist he mentored, Isaiah, won the show. As well as touring the US with Queen, 2019 will see Adam release his fourth album, and also star is his first animated feature: The Playmobil Movie.  

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.