Though this may be the end of ‘From the Basement’, fear not, for Sky Arts are about to bring out the big guns. A series of concerts from some of the biggest names in popular music are to be broadcast, and the first one is a corker- the comeback of Queen.

Not many bands have survived the death of their lead singer- Joy Division managed it by keeping it in the family, with guitarist Bernard Sumner stepping up to fill the void left by the suicide of Ian Curtis. One name change later and New Order were ready to carry on changing the face of pop music. Much less successful was the attempt to reform The Doors with Ian Astbury (of The Cult) replacing Jim Morrison on vocals. Tensions and injunctions from various ex-members made it a bit of a disaster, and Astbury left to be replaced by Brett Scallions of Fuel. The current line up features two original members of The Doors, who now tour under the name ‘Riders on the Storm’. INXS even held a reality TV show competition to find a new singer after Michael Hutchence’s death by misadventure.

But Queen must be one of the biggest successes to come back from their lead singer’s death. After a respectful waiting period they joined forces with ex-Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers to tour as Queen + Paul Rodgers in 2005. After a successful world tour they released a double CD/DVD from the Sheffield Arena gig under the title ‘Return of the Champions’. Featuring popular hits such as ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘We Are The Champions’ and of course ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the prospect of seeing these giants of rock live is a thrilling one indeed- so if you’ve never managed it, Sky Arts have been kind enough to schedule ‘Queen + Paul Rodgers: Return of the Champions’ several times throughout January, which also coincides nicely with the new album, due to be released this year.

Broadcast times
Sat 12 Jan 2008 9:00PM - 10:00PM
Thu 17 Jan 2008 10:00PM - 11:00PM
Sat 19 Jan 2008 12:30AM - 1:30AM
Sat 19 Jan 2008 11:30AM - 12:30PM