Queen To Record New Studio Album

Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen plan to return to the recording studio in October to record a new studio album with former Bad Company and Free vocalist Paul Rodgers, according to a message on Brian May's Web site.

"I talked to Paul last night, the one and only Paul Rodgers, and confirmed that we will be heading into the studio in October .... at a secret location!" May says on his Web site. "We will be turning our heads towards the studio interaction which, just possibly, will bring us all to a new place. We will take it gently at first, the priority being to feel good, and put ourselves in the mood to create."

While some fans are excited to hear any new music from their classic rock heroes, others are not so keen on the idea. One member on the Queenzone.com message board said of the news, "Little by little, the Queen name comes tumbling down. What was once an untouchable and respectable ENTITY... is becoming more and more mortal."

There is no word yet on whether the surviving Queen bass player, John Deacon, will rejoin the group for the new album. He was absent from their most recent 2005/2006 U.S. and European tour. There is speculation that one or more of the tracks on the album may contain unreleased lead vocals from the late Freddie Mercury, but that has not yet been confirmed.

The last complete Queen studio album to be released was 1996's Made In Heaven album which mostly featured previously released and unreleased vocals from Freddie Mercury, as well as vocals from both Roger Taylor and Brian May.

UPDATE: October 30th, 2006

Brian May has released a few statements on his Web site related to the new Queen + Paul Rodgers album:

"Roger [Taylor] and Paul Rodgers and I have been in the studio the last few days working on NEW NEW NEW material ... quite an occasion really. Apart from our excursions with Dave Stewart for Nelson Mandela a couple of years back (most of which never got heard) this is our first QUEEN new recording session for about 15 years. It may turn into an album ... it may lead elsewhere, but right now we are HAVING FUN ! And ..... it sounds pretty amazing to my ears ... very different from anything Paul or Queen have ever done. And pretty epic !!" - Brian May, Oct 23

"Today my whole focus wheeled around again, back to music, as I went back into the studio to work on more new material with Roger and Paul. I have to say I'm very excited. We do feel like a band..... in a very natural way...." - Brian May, Oct 25

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