In his new book Queen in 3-D, guitarist Brian May talks about how the band decided to call on American Idol alum Adam Lambert to fill in for their legendary lead singer Freddie Mercury.

He starts by revealing that drummer Roger Taylor and he weren’t even looking for a singer at the time: “After we’d finished touring with Paul Rodgers, once again Roger and I felt we were done, and probably that would be the end of Queen touring. We didn’t go out looking for a singer who sounded like Freddie and we didn’t embark on one of these TV searches for stars. We just quietly got on with our business. But fate was to intervene. A gift from God?!”

He then talks about hearing of Lambert’s progress on American Idol, his rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the show and how people told him that Lambert “is the natural successor to Freddie; he is the guy you should be touring with.” May then goes on to recount how they finally made the decision to invite Lambert to perform with them, all of which can be read here.

He does however, have some idea of what Freddie Mercury would have to say about his replacement: “I always think that Freddie, with a wicked smile, would say something like “I hate you, Madam Lambert,” because even Freddie would have been gobsmacked at his range and his ability to reinterpret these songs which the four of us originally created together.”

Queen, with Adam Lambert, are currently touring Europe and will head to Australia and New Zealand in February 2018. Go here for more details.