BREAKING: Rock superstars Queen and Adam Lambert to rock UK

As part of a 24-date European tour they play Leeds, First Direct Arena on Tuesday, December 6 and Sheffield Arena on Friday, December 8.

The tour will showcase a spectacular new stage production and a set list, which the band hints will provide some surprises.

It is expected the set list will pay tribute to the 40th anniversary this year of Queen’s biggest-selling studio album, 1977's News of the World - which yielded the immortal anthems We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions.

The shows will mark the band’s first full British tour in almost three years, having last performed across the UK in January 2015 when they played 10 sold out shows.

For their 2017 tour, the band will unveil a brand new show including a specially designed state-of-the-art production.

Queen drummer and co-founder Roger Taylor insists the 2017 today said the tour “will look entirely different to the show we took around before".

He said: "Production has really changed a lot, the things you can do now, you have a much broader palette, the technology has really come along. But we don’t use it all. We don’t play to click track. It’s 100% live. We're planning on doing stuff we either haven't done before or haven't done for a long time. We started as an albums band, that's what we were. The fact that we had hits was just a byproduct.”Guitarist Brian May confirms Queen’s 2017 shows will have a more ambitious musical agenda.

He said: “The general public knows the hits, so you've got to cater for that, but we can chuck in a few things that people really don't expect. We’ll do quite a bit more of that this time around. There are so many dimensions to Adam, which of course fits with our music. He can get down and do the rock stuff really dirty, and you have all those dimensions, and we can explore that even more.”

Adam Lambert welcomes the challenge of digging deeper into the band’s canon of classics.

He said: “What people should know if they came to the shows a couple of years back, is obviously we will still be playing the big hit songs you know and love from Queen, but we thought it would be good to challenge ourselves a bit.

“Change it up a little bit, change the visuals, change all the technology, change the set list to some degree. We will probably be pulling some other songs out of the Queen catalogue which we haven’t done before, which I am very excited about.”

Today's announcement comes just weeks after details emerged of a 26-date summer tour of North America. The band will now return to Europe later this year for a series of 24 dates.

Their only UK appearance in 2016 was a one-off headlining set at the closing night of the Isle of Wight Festival, part of a 15-date European summer festival tour. Isle of Wight festival organiser John Giddings credited the band with “the greatest show we have ever had”.

* Tickets for the Sheffield Arena show go on general sale at 10am on Friday (April 21), priced £88.48 and £77.28. Buy in person, visit www.sheffieldarena.co.uk or call the box office on 0114 256 5656.

Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates 2017

EUROPE

Wed 1st November Prague, Czech Republic, O2 Arena

Thu 2nd November Munich, Germany, Olympiahalle

Sat 4th November Budapest, Hungary, Sportarena

Mon 6th November Lodz, Poland, Atlas Arena

Wed 8th November Vienna, Austria, Stadhalle

Fri 10th November Bologna, Italy, Unipol Arena

Sun 12th November Luxembourg, Amneville Galaxie

Mon 13th November Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ziggo Dome

Fri 17th November Kaunas, Lithuania, Zalgiris Arena

UK & IRELAND

Sat 25th November Dublin, 3 Arena

Sun 26th November Belfast, SSE Arena

Tue 28th November Liverpool, Echo Arena

Thu 30th November Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena

Fri 1st December Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena

Sun 3rd December Glasgow, The SSE Hydro

Tue 5th December Nottingham Motorpoint Arena

Tue 6th December Leeds, First Direct Arena

Fri 8th December Sheffield Arena

Sat 9th December Manchester, Arena

Tues 12thDecember London, 02 Arena

Fri 15th December London, The SSE Arena, Wembley

UK & Ireland Ticket Information

General admission standing: £69.00. Reserved seating: £79.00. VIP Packages available. Ticket purchases limited to six per person visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.ticketmaster.ie