Queen say Adam Lambert can sing their 'difficult' songs 'in his sleep'

Queen have spoken out in praise of Adam Lambert.

The singer joined the group for a world tour this year and they will take their arena show to Europe in 2015.

Speaking to Universal Music Japan, guitarist Brian May says that his band's often hard songs to sing come naturally to the US vocalist.

He said: "We didn't look for this guy, suddenly he's there, and he can sing all of those lines. See, they're difficult songs to sing, Queen songs. There's too much range. So many people can't sing them in the original key - even if they are good singers.

"Adam comes along, and he can do it easy. He can do it in his sleep. He can sing higher than even Freddie [Mercury] could in a live situation. So I think Freddie would look at this guy and think, 'Hmm, yeah. Okay'. There would be a kind of, 'Hmm, you b**tard, you can do this'."

May continued: "Adam also has this presentation, I think. He is a showman. He doesn't have to try. He is a natural, in the same way that Freddie was.

"Adam is so much like Freddie in many ways. But Adam doesn't have to try to be like Freddie, which is the nice thing. He doesn't imitate – he just does his own thing."

Watch Lambert perform with Queen below: