– Press Release

Some of rock’s greatest anthems are to be heard performed live again across America after more than 20 years,
as rock legends Queen, now joined forces with Paul Rodgers, singer and
songwriter of Bad Company/Free fame, announce they are to play a 23-date tour
of the USA and Canada this coming Spring.

The tour announcement comes only a matter of weeks after Queen and Rodgers
ignited sold-out box office and strong media attention with two sold-out
performances at The Meadowlands, NJ, and the Hollywood Bowl on a stop-off
along the way to their recent sold out Japanese tour.

Away from the North America concert circuit for more than two
decades — an enforced retirement brought on by the tragic loss of lead singer
Freddie Mercury, Queen with Rodgers will launch into their coast-to-coast tour
Friday, March 3 in Miami, Fl at the American Airlines Arena.

Spending six weeks on US soil, the band will closely re-route its
triumphant ’82 North American tour, bringing it back to the Queen-heartlands:
Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit,
Seattle, Portland, among other US cities, plus Canadian stops in Toronto and
Vancouver, where the tour winds up on April 13, 2006.

Tickets for these much-anticipated shows go on sale earliest December 3
with sales across the country at different dates up until December 17.

The announcement of this full-time return to touring in the USA by Queen
members Brian May and Roger Taylor, with Rodgers now as vocalist, coincides
with the 30th anniversary celebrations of the band’s history-making single
“Bohemian Rhapsody” and its definitive 70’s album, “A Night At The Opera.”

“A Night At The Opera” was the album which provided Queen with its
breakthrough in the USA, where it reached No. 1 and remained on the charts for
52 weeks, giving them their first gold record in the States.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” continues to be rediscovered by new generations; the
hit movie “Wayne’s World” made it a hit all over again in 1992, and for the
current generation, the song has become reality TV’s most often selected song
among aspiring rock performers.

While Queen was already touring the USA regularly, having made their first
appearance before a stateside audience on April 16th, 1974 in Denver,
performing their one and only tour support (for Mott The Hoople), this, the
band’s fourth album, propelled them into the super-band status. From here
until the final tour of 1982, Queen performed more often in the USA than any
other country in the world; in the following two years, Queen would spend more
than seven months alone playing American dates.

The early ’80s saw Queen at their zenith in the USA; firstly the band’s
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” hit the No. 1 spot, then “The Game” album
spent five weeks at No. 1 on the album chart between September-October 1980,
and the single from it “Another One Bites The Dust” topped the singles chart
in October, staying there for three weeks, even, unexpectedly, reaching No. 2
on the R & B chart. It subsequently won the Favourite Single in the Rock/Pop
category at the American Music Awards the following January. The band’s great
rock anthems, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” continue to echo
across sports stadiums throughout America as the perennial favorites at any
major season events.

As of this past June, according to the RIAA, Queen had sold more than
31.5 million albums in the United States, ranking them the 50th biggest
selling artist in the States. The band’s catalogue continues to be much in
demand; Queen is consistently among the Top 10 download artists at iTunes.

Foo Fighter’s Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins inducted Queen into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Two years later, in June 2003, the band was
inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Paul Rodgers likewise has
enjoyed a phenomenal career worldwide. Rodgers first exploded onto the music
scene with mega hit “All Right Now,” co-written by Rodgers then in Free. The
song became a #1 hit in 20 territories and in the ’90s ASCAP recognized “All
Right Now” for passing one million radio plays in the U.S. The members of
Queen have long cited Free’s “Fire and Water” album as “one of our bibles when
we were starting off.”

In 1973 Rodgers formed Bad Company with guitarist Mick Ralphs. They
wrote, produced and recorded six multi-platinum albums in five years,
including such global hits as “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Can’t Get Enough,”
“Rock & Roll Fantasy,” “Shooting Star” and “Bad Company.” Point of interest,
Rodgers also played guitar and piano on several of these recordings. In the
U.S., “10 From 6” still generates sales of 1,000,000 copies annually — 20
years after its release.

Since the ’90s, as a solo artist, Paul has been honored with a Grammy
nomination for his “Muddy Water Blues” album, and worked with Jimmy Page, Jeff
Beck, Joe Walsh and most recently, with Aretha Franklin, The Temptations and
The Four Tops on the The Tops’ TV/DVD special “From the Heart” which
celebrated their 50th anniversary.

The collaboration between Queen and Rodgers was cemented when May, Taylor
and Rodgers performed in public together for the first time last fall,
bringing the house to its feet at the first annual UK Music Hall of Fame
Awards in London when on accepting their induction, Queen’s Brian May and
Roger Taylor with Rodgers served up blistering versions of “We Will Rock You,”
“We Are The Champions” and Rodgers’ “All Right Now.”

“There was a natural chemistry between us when we performed together in
London. Brian and Roger brought a new dimension to my songs,” said Rodgers.
“The idea took hold for us to do something together after that, and the
momentum has taken on a life of its own.”

The momentum took the shape of a 32-date European tour this past spring
which saw Queen + Paul Rodgers visit over a dozen countries in 12 weeks,
culminating in huge outdoor summer concerts in Portugal, Germany, the
Netherlands and a return to London’s Hyde Park playing to a crowd of over
65,000.

A major Japanese tour was then scheduled for early fall, and along the
way, two stopover concerts in the USA. The Meadowlands, NJ, and LA’s
Hollywood Bowl revived the same kind of audience worship scenes first
experienced by Queen circa ’80s; unquestionable validation that this many
years on, and albeit with a different front man, the power of Queen’s music
and musicianship remains undiminished in the passage of time.

“It was more than enough,” say May and Taylor, “to persuade us that it was
the right time to return for a lengthier period of dates. And it is going to
be great to be back in some of our favourite cities.”

For the Spring 2006 tour dates Brian May (guitar & vocals), Roger Taylor
(drums & vocals) and Paul Rodgers (vocals, guitar & piano) are joined by Danny
Miranda, ex Blue Oyster Cult on bass, Jamie Moses, former Brian May band
member on second guitar, and Spike Edney, long-time Queen sideman on
keyboards. (Queen bassist John Deacon has retired from touring.)

Anyone seeking a taste of what to expect from seeing Queen perform with
Paul Rodgers can check out the two-CD live set Return of the Champions, and
the companion piece DVD filmed during the European tour, both released by
Hollywood Records.

Also shortly available, Hollywood Records commemorates the 30th
anniversary of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was first released in the USA
December 7, 1975 with a special anniversary DVD and CD of the band’s classic
album, A Night At The Opera.

Full date sheet follows.

Queen + Paul Rodgers North America 2006

Fri. 3 March Miami, Fl, American Airlines Arena.
Sun. 5 March Jacksonville, Fl, Veterans Coliseum.
Tues. 7 March Duluth, GA, Gwinett Center.
Thurs. 9 March Washington, DC, MCI Center.
Fri. 10 March Worcester, MA, DCU Center.
Sun. 12 March Uniondale, NY, Nassau Coliseum.
Tues. 14 March Philadelphia, PA, Wachovia Spectrum.
Thurs. 16 March Toronto, ON, Air Canada Centre.
Fri. 17 March Buffalo, NY, HSBC Arena.
Mon. 20 March Pittsburgh, PA, Mellon Arena.
Tues. 21 March Cleveland, OH, Quicken Loans Arena.
Thurs. 23 March Chicago, IL, Allstate Arena.
Fri. 24 March Auburn Hills, MI, Palace at Auburn Hills.
Sun. 26 March St. Paul, MN, Xcel Energy Center.
Mon. 27 March Milwaukee, WI, Bradley Center.
Fri. 31 March Glendale, AZ, Glendale Arena.
Sat. 1 April San Diego, CA, Cox Arena.
Mon. 3 April Anaheim, CA, Arrowhead Pond.
Wed. 5 April San Jose, CA, HP Pavilion.
Fri. 7 April Las Vegas, NV, MGM Grand Garden.
Mon. 10 April Seattle, WA, Key Arena.
Tues. 11 April Portland, OR, Rose Garden.
Thurs. 13 April Vancouver, BC, Pacific Coliseum.

Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster (certain dates: http://www.tickets.com)
with a Special Presale starting November 30th at
http://www.queenpluspaulrodgers.com, http://www.queenonline.com, or
http://www.paulrodgers.com