Queen's Brian May remains grateful for the four years in which the legendary Paul Rodgers sang with the band. Paul Rodgers — a hero of May and Roger Taylor's since his days singing for Free and Bad Company — fronted the Queen + Paul Rodgers lineup to great success bridging the gap between the late, great Freddie Mercury and today's sold out tours with Adam Lambert.
Brian May admitted to Classic Rock magazine that Queen thought the death of Freddie Mercury meant the end of the band: “We thought it was over. Roger and I were convinced it would be impossible to carry on. As soon as we lost Freddie, the spirit was gone. We didn’t even have the desire, to be honest. (The posthumous) Made In Heaven (album) was supposed to be the final chapter, then we both plugged into our solo work. And then completely by accident we met Paul Rodgers, and we thought: 'Maybe let’s work with this guy who was a hero to us and see what happens.'”
Although the trio toured the globe to sold out audiences — they only recorded one studio set together — 2008's The Cosmos Rocks. Despite hitting the Top Five in the UK, the collection stalled at a disappointing Number 47 on the Billboard 200 album list.