Oscars 2019: Queen opens 91st Academy Awards, receives standing ovation

Legendary British rock band Queen gave the biggest night of movies, 91^st Academy Awards, an exceptionally energetic and emotional start as they performed their classic hits, fronted by singer Adam Lambert. Queen and Lambert opened with “We Will Rock You” as the audience flew to their feet, with stars like Glenn Close, Javier Bardem and Lady Gaga spotted clapping and singing along in the audience.

They moved onto “We Are the Champions”, ending the electric performance and received a standing ovation from the audience. The band, which was honouring Best Picture nominee “Bohemian Rhapsody”, performed with two of the four original members—guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor.

“Bohemian Rhapsody”, the biopic which revolves around the band and late frontman Freddie Mercury, is up for five Oscars in total, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Film Editing. The Oscars have gone host-less this year, but Queen’s performance made it up for the traditional opening monologue by the host. 

"Queen + @adamlambert will ROCK YOU," the post shared on the official Twitter handle of the Academy had read. The band now performs under the name Queen + Adam Lambert, with two of the four original members, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, fronted by former "American Idol" star Adam Lambert. Bassist John Deacon has not performed with Queen for many years. "We will rock The Oscars," Lambert tweeted.