Adam Lambert said he likes to “celebrate” the late Freddie Mercury by standing in for the frontman on tour with Queen. “I’m so lucky that I get to pay tribute to [Freddie] and celebrate him as an artist and as a person, as a writer, as a singer,” he told Australian radio station Triple M. “And I think I relate to some of the stuff that he, obviously, has gone through.
“I can kind of draw some comparisons there,” the popstar continued. “And I hope that in some way I can carry on his spirit.”
Addressing the way in which he approaches filling in for Mercury as Queen’s vocalist, Lambert said: “I think that there are certain intentions with which those songs are supposed to be sung and I try to go there.
“I’ve asked a lot of questions and learned a lot about him and I really try to keep him in the forefront of my mind.
“Not to imitate, but to do it for him — kind of, like, celebrate him,” he added.
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“I’ve seen Adam develop just like I watched Freddie develop,” he added.
Last month, Lambert himself opened up on joining Queen, admitting he was “intimidated” taking on Mercury’s role at first.
Speaking at the South Korean press conference for the band’s current tour, he said: “I recognise them as one of the greatest rock bands of all time and Freddie Mercury is a personal hero, as a singer, as a musician, as a performer, as a fashion icon.
“When I first started with the band I was very intimidated by the idea because I knew that living up to these standards was going to be impossible,” he continued.
Lambert went on to discuss how he had diverged from Mercury’s style and put his own stamp on Queen’s music.
“And with Roger and Brian’s help, I quickly learned that instead of imitating Freddie, or copying what Freddie did, that the key to early making this work and have some integrity was just to look at these songs — these beautiful pieces of music — as ways to communicate the human experience,” he said.
The singer explained how he felt like he was being “of service” by enabling the band to continue to tour.
“Once I got that out of my head in compassion to Freddie, I decided to start communicating that to the audience as well,” he said.
“There’s only one Freddie Mercury, there will only be one Freddie Mercury.”