On 15 August 2006, Brian May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at a “secret location”.Queen + Paul Rodgers performed at the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute held in Hyde Park, London on 27 June 2008, to commemorate Mandela’s ninetieth birthday, and again promote awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.The first Queen + Paul Rodgers album, titled The Cosmos Rocks, was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008.Following the release of the album, the band again went on a tour through Europe, opening on Kharkiv’s Freedom Square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans.12 September concert in Ukraine was laterreleased on DVD.The tour then moved to Russia, and the band performed two sold-out shows at the Moscow Arena. Having completed the first leg of its extensive European tour, which saw the band play 15 sold-out dates across nine countries, the UK leg of the tour sold out within 90 minutes of going on sale and included three London dates, the first of which was The O2 Arena on 13 October.The last leg of the tour took place in South America, and included a sold-out concert at the Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires.