QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT: Video Footage Of New York City Press Conference

QUEEN will return to North America for a 19-date arena tour with "American Idol" finalist Adam Lambert once again fronting the band. On Thursday (March 6) co-founders Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Lambert met the press at New York's Madison Square Garden — which the band will return to play on July 17 for the first time since the group's 1982 tour in support of "Hot Space". The 2014 dates begin on June 19 at Chicago's United Center and winds down a month later on July 20 at Columbia, Maryland's Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Video footage from yesterday's press conference can be seen below.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Brian May explained that he was eager to bring the current show to North America and hinted that this might be not only QUEEN's last hurrah — but the last chance to thank fans with a musical spectacle never to be forgotten. "We're very excited, I must say," he said. "It's been a while, but this is a combination, which we feel works really well, and Roger and myself are feeling, y'know, it'll be great to do this one more time — this is what we do. It's very significant that we're here in Madison Square Garden; and actually that was my condition for touring. I said to Jim Beach, our manager, 'Get us Madison Square Garden, get us the Forum in L.A. and we can do this one more time.' And, y'know, this is the man to do it with. I'm thrilled to be here and let's do this."

Roger Taylor told The Pulse Of Radio that the success of QUEEN's live shows with Lambert simply comes down to musical chemistry. "We've worked with Adam a few times now," he said. "We had a wonderful tour, a short tour in Eastern Europe and in England, and that was probably the longest we've worked. Each time we've worked with Adam, it's just worked very well with our music. He's the most incredible frontman and we're delighted to announcing a tour of North America. It's just such a delight for us."

Adam Lambert admitted that he stepped into pretty big shoes when he agreed to take the stage fronting QUEEN — a band that had perhaps the most legendary and charismatic frontman with the late Freddie Mercury. "At first, it was a little daunting, when we started our first incarnation of this. I was definitely… I was apprehensive," he said. "He's a big idol for me, and I thought to myself, y'know, 'I hope that the fans dig this,' y'know? 'Cause there was a possibility that they wouldn't. And it felt really good, the reception was warm, the press reaction to it the first time was very warm. And it's such a treat to get on stage and pay my respects and pay tribute to one of my favorite singers ever — and to sing some of the greatest music ever written."