Queen + Paul Rodgers

I am of several minds about Queen + Paul Rodgers.

-Using the Queen name - inappropriate

If we were to rank the four members of Queen in terms of how much they were responsible for the sound, writing, and success of the band, it would probably be in the order

1. Freddie Mercury

2. Brian Mays

3. John Deacon

4. Roger Taylor

<nowiki>#1 is dead and #3 is retired.</nowiki>  Mathematically, this necessarily means that the combination of Brian Mays and Roger Taylor makes up less than half of what Queen was.  So is not going by the Queen name inaccurate?

-Using the Queen name - apppropriate

Forgetting mathematics for a second, shouldn't the remaining members of a famous band be able to refer to themselves as the name people actually know them by?

Even going back to mathematics, while they're less than half of what made Queen, they're now more than a half of surviving Queen.

-Paul Rodgers

I think he made an interesting choice for a new collaboration.  Rather than the active Queen members just trying to look for someone who could reasonably well voice the Freddie bits, they partnered up with someone who sounds nothing like him but has his own long history of rock success.

This created a legitimately new combination, allowing for several types of output:

1. Old Queen music sung in a Paul Rodgers way

2. Old Paul Rodgers music played in a Queeny way

3. New creations made by a team of 40-year rock veterans with different histories

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Wikipedia entry