Quotes from Marc Martel

Rock and roll reaches people because it's honest and doesn't shy away from the issues.

Stylistically speaking, 'Paradise' is a Jekyll & Hyde song.

I immediately recognised that Freddy's vocal chords bore an uncanny resemblance to mine - or vice-versa, I guess - and yeah, the rest is history.

My mom is the piano player in my dad's church - she's also the choir director - and she's just a musician through and through.

Most of the music I grew up listening to was not Christian music, although I definitely had a lot of that at home, too.

People are telling me they're praying for me. They're proud of me. They're thankful for the things I've said in the mainstream media. I have to give the glory to God for that.

Of course I always knew 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are The Champions' and all those. But my real introduction to Queen the band and knowing who they were was the movie 'Wayne's World' like a lot of people in my generation.

I know at the back of my mind that there's no way I can please everybody, so I still just have to be myself anyway.

I think people tend to cling to music when times are hard.

I'm the worst critic about music myself. I hardly ever, ever like something the first time I listen to it.

Everyone has needs, but Food for the Hungry is something that people can grasp onto as a practical way to step outside of themselves, take a risk, and give.

It's not like I'm pretending to be Freddie Mercury.

Everyone has their own tastes. Some people want to feel like it's Queen onstage, including the dress-up thing, but that's not my style. I do know some people love that and wish I would do it, but I have no interest in that.

'Bohemian Rhapsody' is my all-time favorite.

Being compared to Freddie Mercury is something I've come to terms with. I don't know that I'll ever successfully avoid the comparisons, as much as I might want to. Why bother, though? People hear what they want to hear because it makes them feel good and gives them a momentary pause from a loss rock and roll has felt for years.

When I was in my former band Downhere, I did everything I could not to remind people of Freddie Mercury, but it became almost hilarious how many people compared me to him to the point where it felt like it was working against the band when we tested singles at radio.

I know how limited and how fleeting fame is, so I just try not to get excited about it, honestly.

The Ultimate Queen Celebration is a little bit different. I take liberties with the amount of songs in the set that aren't necessarily Queen songs. I take some freedoms with The Ultimate Queen Celebration that I can't really do with The Queen Extravaganza.

No band has two hours' worth of greatest hits, but Queen comes close.

My favorite thing about the Ultimate Queen Celebration is that we're not afraid to explore a non-traditional Queen set list.

I grew up on a lot of gospel music.

I was born in '76, but I didn't get into rock until the early '90s when the grunge stuff started coming out.

People would come up to me, saying, 'You sound a lot like the lead singer from Queen.' I started wondering, 'Who is this guy making me sound so unoriginal?'

I'm the worst critic about music myself. I hardly ever, every like something the first time I listen to it. So I've got to put myself in other people's shoes.