Queen rule out performing live with Freddie Mercury ABBA-style hologram

31 July 2023 , 19:59

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Freddie Mercury (Image: Press Association)

Freddie Mercury will not be coming back as an ABBA-style hologram for Queen shows, Sir Brian May has insisted.

The guitarist admitted the band had “very seriously” considered the idea. But the 76-year-old believes it goes against their love of being “live and dangerous” on stage. He told The Graham Norton Radio Show podcast: “We’ve talked about and looked at, very seriously, holograms of Freddie and stuff.

“We love to be live and dangerous, that’s it, that’s our emphasis... Now, when we’re all gone, yeah sure, make an ABBA thing about us but while we’re here I want to play live. I don’t want to be a hologram, I want to be me.”

Currently, two of the original four members of Queen play live - May and drummer Roger Taylor. Since 2011, American singer Adam Lambert has toured with them to sing their hits in place of late Freddie.

Brian onstage with Adam Lambert (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

At their shows, during an intimate performance of Love of My Life, the original frontman appears to arrive on stage to join May and sing.

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Brian said: "We've messed with stuff like that for Queen... (but) ABBA don't want to go out and play live anymore, and they never did that much playing live, although they were a wonderful band in the studio. But for us, the live thing is it."

He added: "We have a little bit of stuff with Freddie, I don't know if you remember but I do Love of My Life generally and Freddie comes in and joins me at the end when we do our live shows. But it's not a hologram, it's just sort of old school technology which we kind of like."

Freddie died aged 45 in 1991 following a battle with AIDS.

Nicola Methven