Adam Lambert Honors Queen’s Legacy at the 2025 Polar Music Prize

Adam Lambert took the stage at Stockholm’s Grand Hôtel on May 27, 2025, for a tribute with unusual personal weight. Queen was receiving the Polar Music Prize, and the singer who had spent years performing its songs alongside Brian May and Roger Taylor was there to celebrate the band in front of them.

May and Taylor accepted the award on Queen’s behalf. The evening also honored Herbie Hancock and Barbara Hannigan, with performances devoted to the laureates’ music. For Lambert, it was an opportunity to show two sides of the Queen catalogue within the same ceremony.

He performed “Who Wants to Live Forever” and “Another One Bites the Dust.” One gave him room for a sweeping, emotional vocal; the other called for the rhythmic confidence and theatrical flair captured in the concert image. The pairing showed why Queen’s songs have never belonged to just one style.

Brian May wrote “Who Wants to Live Forever” for Highlander, and Queen released it on 1986’s A Kind of Magic. Its questions about love and mortality have made it an especially powerful song to perform when the band’s history, including Freddie Mercury’s absence, is close to the surface.

“Another One Bites the Dust” brought a different energy to the room. Written by bassist John Deacon for 1980’s The Game, its spare, unmistakable groove became one of Queen’s biggest American hits. At the prize ceremony, Lambert could lean into that pulse and make the performance playful and commanding.

The contrast matters. Lambert has the range for Queen’s grandest melodies, but “Another One Bites the Dust” asks for restraint as well as presence: the singer has to let the groove work before pushing the performance higher. Together, the two songs gave the tribute both heart and swagger.

Lambert’s history with Queen began when May and Taylor appeared with him during the 2009 American Idol finale. Their collaboration grew into an international touring partnership, with the three later selecting performances from their concerts for the live release Live Around the World.

That history made his appearance in Stockholm more than a guest spot. May and Taylor were being recognized for Queen’s career, while an artist they had chosen to share the stage with was interpreting the music before them. Lambert’s voice and stage manner remained recognizably his own.

The ceremony also reflected the breadth of Queen’s influence. Ghost performed “Bohemian Rhapsody” with Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, while other artists brought their interpretations to the celebration. Lambert’s two selections moved between a reflective ballad and a bass-driven hit, tracing a similar range in miniature.

When May and Taylor accepted the prize, they spoke about the chemistry of Queen’s four distinct personalities. The Stockholm performances offered a reminder of what that chemistry produced: songs strong enough to invite new voices while remaining unmistakably Queen.

Lambert’s tribute worked because it gave each song what it needed. He brought vulnerability to “Who Wants to Live Forever” and showmanship to “Another One Bites the Dust,” honoring the music Freddie Mercury helped make famous while performing it in his own voice.