Queen guitarist Brian May has said that Adam Lambert is so good at his role as the band's lead singer that Freddie Mercury would be jealous.

Lambert has been performing with Queen since 2011 and touring with the band since 2014. Queen on Saturday started a 10-date engagement in Las Vegas at the Park MGM.

Mercury, the band's original frontman, died in 1991 of complications related to AIDS.

(Related: Adam Lambert: Rami Malek delivers “sensitive portrayal” of Freddie Mercury in film.)

Speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment, May said: “Freddie would love and hate him, because Adam has a real gift from God. It's a voice in a billion. Nobody has that range, nobody that I've ever worked with. Not just the range but the quality throughout the range. I've seen Adam develop just like I watched Freddie develop.”

“In no way does he imitate Freddie but he provides that piece of the jigsaw puzzle. It's stupendous, we would never be doing this now if it weren't for Adam.”

May added that the chemistry was “instant” with Lambert. “There was something about Adam, this chemistry was instant and it was like we were already in a band with him,” May recalled.