Queen, Adam Lambert Turn ‘Ghost Town’ Into Headbangers Ball
Queen and Adam Lambert performed the singer’s rising single “Ghost Town” for the first time together in Sao Paulo, Brazil, turning the dance floor harbinger into a heavy hitting arena rocker (via Fuse).
The performance opened with a similarly stripped-down intro, with Lambert crooning softly over Brian May’s strumming and Roger Taylor’s light drumming. But where the original drops into a deep house groove, May unleashed the first in a barrage of ragged, rousing riffs.
Despite the vast differences between the original and live version, the new arrangement felt neither forced nor awkward. Lambert’s vocals soared and May delivered a characteristically jaw-dropping solo, proving “Ghost Town” to be as apt an anthem for the club kids as the headbangers.
After spending the top of the year trekking through Europe, Queen and Lambert’s Sao Paulo gig kicked off their South American tour, which includes two more Brazilian dates followed by a handful in Argentina and Chile. The pair launched their first tour last summer, five years after initially taking the stage together on American Idol.
Despite the dream gig fronting Queen, Lambert has remained committed to his solo career, releasing his third LP, The Original High, in June. The album boasted production from hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback, while May also delivered a guest turn on “Lucy.”
“Brian and I get along really well and trust each other,” Lambert told Rolling Stone about his relationship with the Queen guitarist. “I said, ‘Look, I have this song we’ve worked up, and it has a hip-hop beat on it but it’s still a rock song, and I think you would kill it.’ It’s sort of a ‘Dirty Diana’ type of record, and he killed it. He came in and had a great riff that he added to it. And of course, there’s no feature with Brian May without one of his killer solos.”