ABC airs the latest in its Family Singalong franchise tonight: The Queen Family Singalong, paying tribute to the iconic British band via songs belted out by the likes of OneRepublic, Adam Lambert, Alessia Cara and Pentatonix. But the a capella group says it was tough for them to convince the show’s producers to let them sing their preferred song from the Queen catalog.
“We actually fought for that song!” Pentatonix member Matt Sallee laughs. “We said, ‘Oh, please can we do ‘Somebody to Love?’ ‘Cause it has so many harmonies and so many vocal parts, and it’s just so theatrical and it just fits an acapella arrangement really well.”
The problem, member Scott Hoying explains, was “The people running the show had some ideas of what [songs] we could do.”
“They were like, ‘We really are inspired by y’all doing this song.’ And we were like, ‘We’re so down for that…But can we do ‘Somebody to Love?'” he laughs. “And they were like, ‘We’ll see.'”
Ultimately, Pentatonix got the green light. “We were really excited to get to do it,” adds Matt. “I mean…Queen! They’re massive…they’re iconic… all the words, you know? And so what an honor to be able to be a part of an event like that.”
Other performances include OneRepublic doing “We Are the Champions,” Alessia Cara doing “Killer Queen,” and Adam Lambert, who’s currently the lead singer of Queen in real life, belting out “The Show Must Go On.”
“You’re going to hear Queen songs in new and different ways that you’ve not heard them before… and I think there’s a lot of surprises in there as well,” says Adam, adding, “I can’t wait for people to see it!”
The Queen Family Singalong airs tonight at 8 p.m EDT on ABC.
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