Oscars gala opens with performance by Queen

Adam Lambert, right, and Brian May of Queen acknowledge the audience after a performance at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Invision/AP)

HOLLYWOOD–The iconic band Queen kicked off the 91st Academy Awards with a rollicking performance of “We Will Rock You” sung by frontman Adam Lambert.

The group — on which the nominated film “Bohemian Rhapsody” is based — then brought the crowd to its feet with a rendition of the classic “We Are The Champions.”

Lambert, 37, took the stage with the remaining active members of the British band, Brian May and Roger Taylor.

The 71-year-old May, who is also an astrophysicist, delivered a signature guitar solo to open Tinseltown’s biggest night.

Lambert has been touring with the legends since 2011, standing in for the late frontman Freddie Mercury, the storied sinuous performer who Egyptian-American Rami Malek played in the sprawling biopic, which is up for best picture.

Malek has earned a number of awards for his performance including a Golden Globe. He is in the running Sunday for a coveted Best Actor Academy Award.

Prior to the glitzy gala Lambert said on the red carpet the Queen members once told him that “‘if Freddie was here with us still, you guys would get a big kick out of each other.'”

“That means a lot to me.”