Queen + Adam Lambert give 'Ghost Town' rock edge during first live performance

BILLBOARD
17 September 2015 by Joe Lynch

Q+AL Burbank 16 June 2014 — Adam Lambert with Brian May and Roger Taylor perform onstage during Queen + Adam Lambert for iHeartRadio Live at the iHeartRadio Theater on June 16, 2014 in Burbank, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Freddie Mercury remains irreplaceable, but Queen fans hungry to see the surviving band members live in the 21st century owe Adam Lambert a healthy debt of gratitude for bringing the British band’s classic material back to the stage with style, aplomb and an incredible set of pipes.

So it’s about time that Queen returned the favor and lent their majestic stadium rock touch to one of Lambert’s solo tracks. Playing Sao Paulo on Sept. 16, Queen + Adam Lambert performed the latter’s “Ghost Town” live for the first time together.

Music’s Men of Style: Adam Lambert Explains Putting Down ‘A Lot of the Makeup’

The eerie whistle hook from The Original High original is replaced by Brian May’s guitar, giving the Max Martin-produced track a hard rock recasting. The song is surprisingly durable — it wouldn’t sound out of place on a live double LP set from the ’70s.

Watch two different fan-shot clips of Glambert doing “Ghost Town” with Queen below.