Is Robbie Williams Queen’s New Knight?

Robbie Williams was Queen for a Day recently on a Universal Studios sound stage.

Uh, make that a member of the band Queen for a day.

And the English pop phenom may well be spending more days with Queen. Discussions have taken place about his signing on for a tour, while several other projects are also in the planning stages for what in the next year or two could be the first ongoing activity for the band since the 1991 AIDS-related death of singer and showman Freddie Mercury.

For this occasion at Universal, Brian May and Roger Taylor, founding members of Queen, asked Williams to take Mercury’s slot for a video of “We Are the Champions,” a Queen classic that’s being used in the jousting movie “A Knight’s Tale.” And with May and Taylor unable to participate in the video due to logistics, it was all the hammy Williams’ show as director Evan Bernard pieced together the staging and surroundings of a rock concert set in medieval times--think “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” meets “This Is Spinal Tap.”

“I never said we were better than the king,” Williams said, John Lennon-like, in answer to a question posed in a press conference scene staged for the video. “I merely said we were more popular.”

But for all the silliness, there’s serious business at hand for Queen, with “We Are the Champions,” ’We Will Rock You” and “Another One Bites the Dust” among the highest-profile classic-rock songs, a continual presence not just on radio but also in movies, commercials and at sports events. At the center of the new activity is a proposed concert tour with Williams joining guitarist May and bassist Taylor, a venture rumored but denied several months ago.

“They actually wanted to do shows in the States and Japan [this year],” Williams said in between video takes. “They came to a couple of shows of mine last year and chatted with me about it, which was amazing. But it would entail an awful lot of stuff. I need some time off first.”

May, speaking by phone from his home in England, confirmed that the gears are turning on several Queen projects, including the tour, a VH1 special and even the possibility of new music. There’s also a long-discussed musical using Queen songs in development, with tentative plans to open in London in spring 2002.

“This [song for the movie] is a new step, really,” May said, noting that Queen drummer John Deacon has opted to stay on the sidelines at this point. “We haven’t let anyone else sing the songs with us, but we think Robbie’s pretty special. We’ve had various informal discussions about doing more, with the upshot being that we’ll go slowly.”

The proposed VH1 special would be similar to a recent Doors show that featured guest singers in place of the late Jim Morrison. Among those expected to be part of Queen’s show are Williams and Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl, who joined May and Taylor for a rousing “Tie Your Mother Down” at the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

For Williams, the gig could prove the door to recognition in the U.S. In the U.K., Europe and Asia, the singer is one of the biggest pop stars of recent years. Over here, though, he’s still largely unknown.

For May, just talking about doing these projects is a personal breakthrough.

“All of this wouldn’t have happened a year ago, mostly because of me,” May says. “I’ve been concerned about being Brian May and not Queen. It was something I had to get over--part of the grieving process. I felt it was painful to operate under the Queen banner. But it’s easy to operate with Roger now.”