Brian May
Queen’s Brian May and Sade Producer Robin Millar Knighted in U.K. New Year Honours List
Queen guitarist Brian May and record producer Robin Millar top the list of music industry professionals recognized in the King’s 2023 New Year Honours List, an annual tradition celebrating the achievements and service of exceptional individuals from across the United Kingdom. Brian May, who co-founded British rock band Queen in 1970 and continues to tour and record with the group, receives a knighthood for services to music and his charity work. May was previously made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005. Becoming a knight or a dame is one of the highest-ranking awards in the British honours system, followed by CBE, and then Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). A knighthood or damehood entitles recipien...
Brian May Addresses Controversial Comments Made About Trans People: ‘My Words Were Subtly Twisted’
Brian May addressed the controversial comments he made about transgender people in a recent interview, stating that his “words were subtly twisted.” “Yes – I was ambushed and completely stitched up by a journalist at the recent ITV event. And it’s led to a whole mess of press stories making it look like I’m unfriendly to trans people,” the Queen guitarist wrote in a statement on Instagram. “Nothing could be further from the truth. My words were subtly twisted. I should have known better than to talk to those predatory Press hacks.” “Sincere apologies to anyone who has been hurt by the stories,” he continued. “My heart is open as always to humans of all colours, all creeds, all sexes and sexualities, all shapes and sizes – and all creatures. We all deserve respect and an equal place i...
Brian May Addresses Controversial Comments Made About Trans People: ‘My Words Were Subtly Twisted’
Brian May addressed the controversial comments he made about transgender people in a recent interview, stating that his “words were subtly twisted.” “Yes – I was ambushed and completely stitched up by a journalist at the recent ITV event. And it’s led to a whole mess of press stories making it look like I’m unfriendly to trans people,” the Queen guitarist wrote in a statement on Instagram. “Nothing could be further from the truth. My words were subtly twisted. I should have known better than to talk to those predatory Press hacks.” “Sincere apologies to anyone who has been hurt by the stories,” he continued. “My heart is open as always to humans of all colours, all creeds, all sexes and sexualities, all shapes and sizes – a...
Brian May Says Queen Would Be ‘Forced’ to Have Colored and Transgender Members If They Formed Today
Brian May has some thoughts about the world’s current cultural climate. During an interview with The Mirror, the Queen guitarist said the band probably wouldn’t fare well if it was just starting out during a time when everyone has “to be so calculating about everything.” “Freddie [Mercury] came from Zanzibar, he wasn’t British, he wasn’t white as such – nobody cares, nobody ever, ever discussed it,” May said. “He was a musician, he was our friend, he was our brother. We didn’t have to stop and think: ‘Ooh, now, should we work with him? Is he the right color? Is he the right sexual proclivity?’ None of that happened, and now I find it frightening that you have to be so calculating about everything.” He then took that thought one step further, adding: “We would be forced to have p...
Brian May Calls Anti-Vaxxers, Including Eric Clapton, ‘Fruitcakes’
Brian May considers Eric Clapton one of his “heroes,” but that doesn’t mean he’s okay with anti-vaxxers. During an interview with The Independent, the Queen guitarist labelled anti-vax rock stars “fruitcakes,” including Clapton, Verve’s Richard Ashcroft and Stone Roses’ Ian Brown, who all have said they won’t play shows that require “COVID passports” to gain admission. “I love Eric Clapton, he’s my hero, but he has very different views from me in many ways,” May said. “He’s a person who thinks it’s OK to shoot animals for fun, so we have our disagreements, but I would never stop respecting the man.” “Anti-vax people, I’m sorry, I think they’re fruitcakes,” he added. “There’s plenty of evidence to show that vaccination helps. On the whole they’ve been very safe. There’s always going to...
Brian May Says Freddie Mercury ‘Loved’ Wayne’s World ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Scene
Wayne’s World was released after Freddie Mercury died, but the singer actually saw Queen’s iconic moment shortly before he passed away and “laughed and laughed” at the famous “Bohemian Rhapsody” scene. Queen guitarist Brian May revealed the tidbit during the premiere of Wayne’s World Reunited Apart – PARTY TIME! Many of the cast members, including Mike Myers, Alice Cooper, Dana Carvey and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, participated in the event. May said that Mercury saw the timeless car headbanging sequence featuring “Bohemian Rhapsody” shortly before his November 1991 death… and loved it. His revelation surprised the cast, who were unaware of Mercury’s blessing. So, how did it happen? Myers gave a VHS tape to May, who recalled, “I took it round to Freddie no...
Brian May Is ‘Grateful to Be Alive’ After Spate of Health Scares
Brian May, beloved Queen guitar icon —and astrophysicist — has chronicled his recent health problems on social media, but he went on Good Morning Britain to delve deeper into topics including the stomach hemorrhage caused by the medication prescribed following his heart attack. He told the show’s hosts he’s “grateful to be alive” following a raft of health including a heart attack, sciatica and an “exploding stomach,” which is how he described the blood loss from the hemorrhage. Fortunately, the 73-year-old has fully recovered from his ailments. “I had a wonderful, wonderful surgeon. I had three stents in me, which are working just fine, and I feel good.” May revealed that it wasn’t the heart attack that nearly killed him, rather a medication after the incident. “It was shocking,...
Brian May Says He Nearly Died From a ‘Stomach Explosion’ While Recovering From His Heart Attack
After suffering a small heart attack that had him “very near death” earlier this year, Brian May thought he was in the clear post-surgery. He was wrong. During a recent interview with The Times, the Queen guitarist opened up about how his recovery’s been a “long climb back” that included another brush with death. “I’ve had complications due to the drugs I’m on, one of which was a stomach explosion that nearly killed me,” he divulged. “The heart attack was a symbol of an arterial disease, but I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t have high cholesterol and I was exercising through the tour, so why did it happen?” the 73-year-old questioned. “At least I now have a heart that is working far better than it was.” The trouble began a few months ago, when May tore his gluteus m...
Queen Becomes Third Rock Band to Appear on UK Stamps
For the third time in history, the UK’s Royal Mail is honoring a legendary band by issuing a set of stamps. After the Beatles in 2007 and Pink Floyd in 2016, Queen will now be seeing their faces in mailboxes in July. The 13-stamp set — featuring eight legendary album covers, a classic photo of the group, and four live shots of the group — releases on July 9 and is now available for preorder. “It’s hard to put into words what I feel when looking at these beautiful stamps,” Queen guitarist Brian May said in a release. “Since we four precocious boys started out on our quest 50 years ago, our lives have been devoted to making our impossible dream come true. Sometimes it’s strange to wake up and realize the position in which we are now held – we have become a national institution! And noth...
Brian May ‘Overwhelmed’ by Love and Support From Fans After Heart Attack Scare
After suffering a “small heart attack” scare earlier this week, Brian May has shared a special message to all his fans. “I’m overwhelmed,” he said in the Instagram video, “and really, more than touched by the torrent of love and support that’s come back at me after all the incredible coverage in the press, I really didn’t expect all that.” May gave fans a scare after a gardening accident where he tore his gluteus maximus and was later found to be a bigger nerve problem that “paralysed” his brain. This eventually led to a “small heart attack.” The Queen guitarist also talked about how the scores of messages that he received in his “email box” and other places made him think about how it felt like he got to hear the dedications that people make to the deceased at their funerals. “All these p...
Brian May Suffered Small Heart Attack, Compressed Sciatic Nerve After Gardening Accident
Brian May took to Instagram Sunday night to tell “the truth about what happened” to him earlier this month. Though it’s true he tore his gluteus maximus during a gardening accident, that ended up being the tip of the iceberg. A week after the incident, the Queen guitarist was still on “severe painkillers” and in agony, so he went in for a second MRI that showed a severely compressed sciatic nerve. “I could not believe the pain,” he said in the video. “That’s why I had the feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back the whole time. It was excruciating.” But that’s not even all of it. The 72-year-old also revealed that he suffered “a small heart attack.” “I thought I was a very healthy guy and everyone said, ‘You’ve got a great blood pressure, you’ve got a great heart rate...
Brian May Opens Up About How Nerve Pain ‘Paralysed My Brain’
Earlier this month, Brian May thought he had torn his gluteus maximus while gardening, but in a lengthy Instagram post the Queen guitarist explained that the injury was actually brought on by nerve pain that was so bad it “paralysed my brain.” “It’s incredible what real pain does to you. I’ve always been a bit of a big shot about my tolerance to pain levels – like not getting Novocaine jabs at the dentist or whatever – But this nerve pain which came to inhabit my body about three weeks ago – no, it wasn’t a glute thing after all – has paralysed my brain,” he wrote. “I felt it took over my personality. I woke up feeling that somehow the pain WAS me, and I was struggling to get back in my body. And I did give in and take the heavy duty painkillers, and in the end I was in a nightmare world.”...
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