This sounds brilliant!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Queen-Want-All-Brian-May/dp/1844492826/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220045922&sr=8-4

I was lucky enough to go along to EMI last night to hear the new Queen and Paul Rodgers album before it is released on 15th September! The album sounds great - my favourites were Surfs Up… Schools Out and Call Me! I can’t wait to hear it again!

http://www.girlonfire.co.uk/photos/displayimage.php?pid=8519&fullsize=1

Check out this interesting item on Freddie’s early years at school in India at www.queenmuseum.com.

You can now pre-order the brand new Queen + Paul Rodgers single ‘C-lebrity’! Get the CD and 7″ together for just £3!

http://www.digitalstores.co.uk/queenonline/home.jsp?CategoryPK=unittest-bf4EqrzsBZT7axCGqN3IEb-1142

‘C-lebrity’ is released on September 8th on the following formats:

CD
1. C-lebrity
2. Enhanced section: ‘C-lebrity’ live Al Murray’s Happy Hour/Now Play It Tutorial.

7″
1. C-lebrity
2. Fire & Water (live at Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, 2005)

Digital Bundle
1. C-lebrity
2. Fire & Water (live at Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, 2005)

There will also be an iTunes Exclusive Bundle released on September 8th with the following tracklisting:
1. C-lebrity
2. Fire & Water (live at Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, 2005)
3. The Show Must Go On (live at Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, 2005)

http://www.business24-7.ae/articles/2008/8/pages/08222008_749870c862b048519dab93ba992ff41e.aspx

Start growing your hair and go in search of some funky leather trousers, because superstar rock band Queen and singer Paul Rodgers are set to take to the stage in Dubai this November.

The world-renowned group – made famous by the late legendary lead singer Freddie Mercury – will see Brian May and Roger Taylor perform with Rodgers at Dubai Festival City on November 14, in a rock extravaganza, which according to organisers Transguard Group, has never been witnessed before in the region.

“What is going to set this event apart from other shows is the corporate route we are taking,” Mark Povey, Director Marketing and Events, told Emirates Business. “It is a slight departure from the traditional concert concept.”

Approximately 12,000 rock fans are expected to attend, with a further 2,000 in the exclusive corporate hospitality village.

According to Transguard, the band’s set will feature a mix of Queen classics and new album tracks against a backdrop featuring a unique stage and lights set.

“This band is perfect for business people who want to take clients to a Dubai event,” said Povey, who has organised corporate events such as White Collar Boxing. “With the corporate village seating, we can provide a company with their own branded private balcony, with personal waiter service.” The Queen and Rodgers collaboration began in 2004 when Queen guitarist May hooked up with the singer – formerly member of bands Bad Company, Free, The Firm and The Law – at the Fender Strat Pack concert.

They performed a rendition of Free’s classic, All Right Now, and following the show, May invited Rodgers to sing with the band at their induction to the UK Music Hall of Fame, where they played We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions and All Right Now. The three announced their world tour in 2005.

May, Rodgers and drummer Taylor are the principal members of the band, supplemented on tour by keyboard player Spike Edney, rhythm guitarist Jamie Moses, and bassist Danny Miranda.

Coinciding with the release of their album, The Cosmos Rocks, Queen and Paul Rodgers are embarking on an intensive 33-date European, North Eurasian and Latin American tour.

Flying to Dubai straight from the last of their UK dates in London, the band will fit in an exclusive performance here before heading on to the South American leg of their tour.

The new album, jointly written and produced by the three legendary rock icons, is the first Queen studio album in 13 years; their last release was the 1995 hit, Made In Heaven, which contained their last recordings with Mercury.

That album became the band’s biggest selling studio album, with worldwide sales in excess of 20 million.

THE RHAPSODY IS SPREADING…
QUEEN & BEN ELTON’S “WE WILL ROCK YOU”
SET TO ROCK THE UK

Regional Tour for 2009 while continuing record-breaking London Dominion Run

Like the band itself, which begins a massive European tour mid-September, the smash Queen & Ben Elton’s hit musical, “We Will Rock You” is set to rock the UK with a 43-week regional tour next year.

Having proved its enormous rapport with the public by achieving the distinction of becoming the longest running musical ever staged at the West End’s Dominion Theatre where it is currently playing its seventh year, the musical will rock across the UK from March 2009 while continuing to play in London. The Dominion production is presently booking until October 2009.

The touring production of We Will Rock You opens at Manchester’s Palace Theatre mid-March for a twelve week season. It will then transfer to play Sunderland Empire, Birmingham Hippodrome, Bristol Hippodrome, and ends 2009 with ten weeks at Edinburgh Playhouse commencing early November.

The tour is a Phil McIntyre Entertainment presentation with Queen Theatrical Productions.

Announcing the tour, Queen’s Brian May said: “We are excited to be able, finally, to send a brand new top class WWRY company out on tour around the UK. We are completely hands on, and will be visiting! The Mother Ship, in the Dominion Theatre, London, will be rockin’ on all the while, keeping the home fires burning, until further notice!”

The touring production reaches local UK theatres carrying with it an impressive legacy: when it first became news that one of Britain’s most phenomenally successful comedy writers Ben Elton was teaming up with legends of rock, Queen, for a musical there was much speculation on what such a unique collaboration would turn out. Especially when screen icon Robert de Niro became so impressed after attending the original workshop that his company Tribeca came on board as American partner.

The result was a new chapter in theatre history – “We Will Rock You” - a rock ‘theatrical’ which defied all comparisons and has gone on to rock London’s West End and theatres around the world for the past six years to an audience of well beyond 6 million.

With the London production alone having been seen by close on 4 million people, played over 2300 performances, and grossed more than £100 million at the box office, “We Will Rock You” is well on the way to becoming one of the most successful rock musicals ever.

Says producer Phil McIntyre: “We are bursting with excitement; at last provincial audiences will get a true rock extravaganza. We can’t wait to see the first night reactions throughout the country. We Will Rock You will rock the UK; it is the biggest and best rock theatrical!”

The show brings together a production and design team behind some of the biggest international theatre productions and rock tours.

Production designers Mark Fisher and Willie Williams have created set designs for Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, and the acclaimed multi-media shows for U2.

Costume Designer Tim Goodchild has already achieved three Olivier Awards for his work in the West End. Choreographer Arlene Phillips has shown her distinctive style in some of the biggest stage musicals of the past two decades, including Starlight Express, Grease and Saturday Night Fever. Bobby Aitken (Grease and Mamma Mia!) is Sound Designer.

And with Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor as music supervisors, and behind the cast “a band without parallel in the theatre, reflecting the true power of the mighty Queen” you’d be right to expect “We Will Rock You” to rock as fiercely as the best of Queen’s concerts.

Writer Ben Elton has fashioned a hilarious futurist comedy around more than 24 of Queen’s biggest hit songs delivered in a show that boasts the scale and spectacle that marked Queen’s live performances.

“This show is all about legend,” says Ben Elton. “We take the legend of Queen and create our own fantastical story of young kids battling the might corporations who want to suppress their individuality and their love of music. They need a hero who can help them in their struggle, and we have two – the dreamer Galileo and the sassy rock chick Scaramouche. Guess who ends up winning?”

Says Brian May: “The amazing bonus is that Ben’s script subtly works as a metaphor too. People definitely come out of the theatre feeling that in a strange way they now know us, Queen, and our struggle, our journey.”

And Roger Taylor: “Creating the show with Ben was very much a three way thing. Which was great, because Ben has such a great active mind and has been a great pleasure to work with. He has a great fertile mind that never ever stops churning out ideas. He’s written a fantastic idea for the sequel. I counted 23 more hits he can put in it. Let’s see if people like this one first!”

Public sale of tickets begins from September 15 – September 22 depending on theatre.

We Will Rock You – not just a show, but a promise!
WE WILL ROCK YOU. A Phil McIntyre Entertainment/Queen Theatrical Productions/ Tribeca production.
www.queenonline.com

—

We Will Rock You UK Tour 2009:
Theatre Booking Details:

MANCHESTER PALACE THEATRE
Friday 20 March – Saturday June 2009
Tickets on sale: Monday 15 September at 10:00am
Performances: Mon-Sat 7.30pm, Wed & Sat 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Tickets: £16.00-£40.00
Ticketmaster: 0844 847 2275*
www.palaceandoperahouse.org.uk*
(*Subject to booking/transaction fee)
Groups of 10+ call freephone: 0800 587 5007 (Mon-Fri 10am-6pm)

SUNDERLAND EMPIRE
Tuesday 9 - Saturday 27 June 2009
Tickets: £12.50 - £37.50
On Sale Schedule:
8 September LiveCard Members 0191 566 1045
8 September Groups 10+ 0800 587 5007 (Mon-Fri 10am-6pm)
15 September General On Sale: Ticketmaster 0844 847 2499*
www.SunderlandEmpire.org.uk*
(*Subject to booking/transaction fee)

BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME
Wednesday 1 July 2009 – Saturday 5 September 2009
On Sale Schedule:
18 August Priority booking for Hippodrome Friends
10 September Groups priority booking: 0844 338 7000
15 September Priority online booking www.birminghamhippodrome.com
22 September Booking fully open: Telephone 0844 338 5000
and personal visits to Hurst Street box office

BRISTOL HIPPODROME
Wednesday 16th September 2009 – Saturday 31st October 2009
On Sale Schedule:
1 SeptemberBEP readers/LiveCard/Groups 10+
15 September Booking fully open: Telephone 0844 847 2325
and personal visits to theatre Box Office

EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE
Tuesday 3rd November 2009 - Saturday 9th January 2010
Tickets on sale: Monday 15th September 2008
24 Hour Telephone Bookings 0844 8471660
Online Bookings - www.EdinburghPlayhouse.org.uk

In addition to the London West End production We Will Rock You has already completed over 100 shows in Melbourne and in Sydney, and opened in Japan, Spain, Las Vegas, Russia, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Austria and throughout Asia. The current Toronto production has become something of a phenomenon. Originally scheduled to play seven weeks, the show was quickly extended again and again ultimately playing 61 weeks at the Canon Theatre before transferring to the Panasonic theatre where it continues to run.

The show has developed an extraordinary devotion from fans: on Tuesday, January 25, 2005, Londoners, Kevin Morrissey and Julie Daw, were married in Las Vegas where they had traveled to see the production there of their favorite musical, “We Will Rock You”. For their honeymoon evening festivities, they again sat through the show at the Paris Resort, Las Vegas. It was the 61st time for Kevin and the 42nd time for Julie seeing “We Will Rock You”. Following the show, the couple shared their honeymoon celebrations with the cast who made their evening by providing a backstage tour. The couple rounded off their honeymoon by spending their final night in Vegas again at the show.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Rock-coming-Bristol-Hippodrome/article-273594-detail/article.html

Smash-hit musical We Will Rock You is coming to the Bristol next year.

The show, written by comedian Ben Elton and based on the music of legendary rock band Queen, will come to the city in September as part of the show’s first UK tour.

It will start in Manchester in March, then visit Sunderland and Birmingham before coming to Bristol for a six-week run until the end of October, finally going on to Edinburgh.

Tickets for the show go on general sale on September 15, but Bristol Evening Post readers who collect special tokens in the newspaper will be able to buy them from September 1. Gary Roden, the general manager of the Hippodrome – which has featured musicals such as Mamma Mia, Evita and Dr Dolittle already this year – was delighted that the show is coming to Bristol.

He said: “It is brilliant news once again for the theatre and the city.

“We Will Rock You has been a phenomenal success in London and has been seen by over six million people worldwide, and we have no doubt whatsoever that the show will be a sell-out success story for the Hippodrome.

“This is one of the shows that the people of Bristol have been asking to land on their doorstep, and we are only too happy to oblige. It will be the hot ticket for 2009, and I would urge people to snap up tickets sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.”

We Will Rock You first opened at the West End’s Dominion Theatre in 2002. Since then almost four million tickets have been sold for 2,300 performances, grossing more than £100 million at the box office.

It has also been shown all around the world, from Tokyo to Toronto and Melbourne to Madrid, and swept the board at the 2003 Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, picking up the five gongs and the award for best new musical.

The show also packs in 24 of Queen’s biggest hits, including Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions and I Want To Break Free.
Scripted by Ben Elton, who collaborated with Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, the story is set on earth 300 years into the future.
Everyone wears the same clothes, watches the same films and thinks the same thoughts. Music is also generated by one company, and musical instruments are banned.

But resistance comes in the form of a man called Galileo, a hero who will help the world break free.
Elton, who rose to prominence in the early 1980s when he co-wrote the sitcom The Young Ones – much of which was set in Bristol – said: “I had almost given up trying to find a story that could contain the incredible richness, wit and variety of Queen’s greatest hits.
“Then the idea suddenly came to me – a world where young people are denied the right to make music for themselves, to do what Elvis and the Beatles did, to form bands, write songs and start a revolution in their heads.

“I really thought Queen could illustrate that beautifully, and of course the fact that they are ultimate rock gods and the stuff of legend anyway meant that it was a terrifically fun story to weave.”

Elton will direct the show that will come to Bristol himself, while May and Taylor will be musical directors, and the trio are expecting to visit at some point during the run. And he said that the production that comes here will probably be the best yet.
He said: “We Will Rock You is constantly developing. When it comes to Bristol it will probably be better than anything we have done, with new jokes and all the wisdom we have learned from around the world.

“We are used to putting the big version of the show on, and that is what we will be bringing to Bristol. People will be getting the full We Will Rock You experience. “So far we have never failed to get a standing ovation, so we hope Bristol likes it.
“I promise we will bring a show that will blow the audience’s socks off.
“We Will Rock You isn’t just a title – it’s a promise.”
Brian May added: “We are excited to be able, finally, to send a brand new, top class We Will Rock You company out on tour around the UK. The mother ship, in the Dominion Theatre, will be rockin’ on all the while, keeping the home fires burning until further notice.”

Tickets for We Will Rock You go on sale to Evening Post readers/ Groups 10+ / Live Nation card holders on Monday, September 1. Special tokens will appear in the Bristol Evening Post from August 29.

Tickets do not go on general sale until 10am on September 15.

The show will run from September 16 to October 31 next year. Evening performances will start at 7.30pm, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm, except September 16, 2009.

Tickets cost between £21 and £40, with concessions available, excluding Saturdays.

Brian’s thesis has been published and you can buy it here for £43.99!

From www.queenonline.com

CASTING AN EYE ON EAGERLY AWAITED QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS
THE COSMOS ROCKS CD ALBUM

Having between them sold more than 300 million albums, it is only to be expected that the first studio collaboration between rock giants Queen and revered rock legend Paul Rodgers in the form of the upcoming album The Cosmos Rocks is one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated.

For the music we will have to wait a little longer: the album does not reach stores until September 15 (October 14 in the USA), but for anyone wondering how Queen and Paul Rodgers circa 2008 visualise themselves the band this week revealed the cover art for the forthcoming CD album.

The thematic image is the work of award winning photographer Edgar Martins who has been hailed ‘one of the most influential artists of his generation working within the medium of Photography’. Widely represented internationally in various high profile museums, public, corporate and private collections, Martin’s awarded books and series include ‘Black Holes & Other Inconsistencies’ and ‘The Diminishing Present’, work, according to critical observers, ‘positioned in the grey area of fact and fiction, reality and allegory’.

So beyond Martin’s striking cover image, what lies in store with The Cosmos Rocks?

Tantalisingly, the Queen + Paul Rodgers’ point of view is: “People really, truly playing together in the studio – you don’t get that much these days. But, you will get it on the new Queen and Paul Rodgers album.”

The Cosmos Rocks, featuring 13 all-new tracks written and recorded by Queen + Paul Rodgers, is released by EMI/Parlophone throughout the world excepting North America where it is a Hollywood Records release.

A teaser is above…to see the full Cosmos Rocks artwork check out the Album Club now…plus read more exclusive quotes, this time from Photographer Edgar Martins.