February 14, 2012

Marc Martel's singing talents may provide the best chance any of us will ever get to experiencing Freddie Mercury in performance. The Montreal-born singer's ability to channel the late front man for British rock gods Queen has already garnered some 5.8 million views on YouTube for his performance of the band's "Somebody To Love."

Soon he will be giving Queen fans even more reason to believe as the singer for Queen Extravaganza, a touring tribute band assembled by Queen drummer Roger Taylor to celebrate his band's 40th anniversary. The lineup was the subject of a North America-wide talent search, which culminated in a final audition round in Los Angeles last December. To the surprise of no one who saw Martel's original video clip (which was in fact his initial audition), he clinched the spot as the band's singer, meaning he will be the virtual reincarnation of Freddie Mercury for thousands of fans when Taylor's tribute group goes on tour this year.

But he won't be the only Canadian on board: Martel will be joined on stage by Toronto guitarist Tristan Avakian and Quebec City's Francois-Olivier Doyon on bass when Queen Extravaganza hits the road.

Here is Marc in performance with most of what was to become the final lineup for Taylor's project:

For reference, here is the original Queen lineup playing "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in Martel's hometown of Montreal in 1981:

And here is the original audition tape that initially sent Marc on his Queen journey, today with 5,821,297 views and counting:

Watch for Marc's appearance on the program tonight. Tune in at 11:05 p.m. to catch the show.

Related Stories on Strombo.com:

Canadian Marc Martel is the Reincarnation of Freddy Mercury

Links:

Queen Extravaganza