‘American Idol’ Not on Tonight, ABC Airing Adam Lambert’s Queen Special Instead

American Idol fans might miss out on their regularly-scheduled dose of Katy Perry antics, but they’ll be able to catch the story of Idol legend Adam Lambert‘s rise to the lead singer of Queen.

After Sunday’s episode of the ABC singing competition narrowed down the Top 8 to the Top 6 in a Queen-themed episode featuring Lambert as a mentor, the network is using Monday’s 8-10 p.m. ET Idol slot to air The Show Must Go On: The Queen & Adam Lambert Story, a documentary chronicling the Season 8 runner-up’s journey to replace the late Freddie Mercury as the lead singer of Queen.

“When we very first met Adam, he appeared to be more, more of a boy, I now see him as an incredibly accomplished man,” original Queen member Roger Taylor said of their new lead singer in an interview shared on ABC’s social media.

The two-hour special will also include rare concert footage, interviews with original Queen band members and Lambert’s family, all while detailing what became of the iconic group after Mercury’s death due to AIDS in 1991.

“In learning more about Freddie over the years and learning that there was definitely a loneliness there, I feel like I have enough in common with some of the things that Freddie was going through,” Lambert said of learning to identify with the superstar who died when he was still a young kid.

“When Adam was younger, he didn’t quite fit in,” mom Leila said of her son’s upbringing. “He would do a lot of acting out of fantasy things, and he would ask me to film him and take pictures while he was dancing or singing. We thought, ‘There’s got to be another outlet.’”

Enrolling him in a children’s theater group, Lambert said he first discovered his love of performing for people, saying in the clip, “I remember the first Saturday I went, I was instantly like ‘I found my people.’”

The Show Must Go On: The Queen & Adam Lambert Story airs Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

American Idol will return for an all-new episode Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: Miracle Productions/ABC