Queen icon Brian May believes Freddie Mercury would be taken aback by the talents of Adam Lambert.

The Brit, who died in 1991, is regarded as one of rock's best vocalists - but his bandmate May thinks Mercury would be pleased about Queen's new singer.

The band are set to tour North America this summer with previous collaborator Lambert on vocals.

Speaking to the Breeze Radio Network, May said of the singer's abilities:

"He's a really fine artist, you know, with a stupendous instrument. That's a voice in a billion. I know Freddie, for a fact, would gasp at the stuff that Adam is able to do. You know, Freddie was one of the greatest singers of all time. There's no question of that, but he would've looked at Adam and thought 'Oooh, my God. That boy's got something', you know.

"And Adam's a nice person to work with as well, which is really important. You can't go out around the world with people you don't like. We've been very fortunate, and I've been incredibly fortunate to work with some great people who are also great human being."

Speaking meanwhile about the preparations for the tour - which kicks off in June - May added:

"We're in good shape. Yeah, you have to start very early with these things, so we've been talking production and design for a few months now. But yeah - all that remains is to get our bodies fit, and our minds fit."

Watch Queen perform with Adam Lambert below: