{"id":173376,"date":"2025-09-27T16:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/173376\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T16:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:30:09","slug":"brian-may-the-beatles-influence-on-bohemian-rhapsody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/173376\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian May: the Beatles influence on Bohemian Rhapsody"},"content":{"rendered":"

As \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d reaches the half-century mark, it\u2019s not getting any easier to play, says Brian May.<\/p>\n

The Queen guitarist says the hit song is so complex that he has to \u201ckeep my wits about me\u201d every time he plays it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Clocking in at nearly six mantes, and containing several sections, including May\u2019s own guitar <\/a>solo, the song combines elements of balladry, opera and rock in one of contemporary music\u2019s most beguiling \u2014 and challenging \u2014 musical works.<\/p>\n

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May, who was present while singer Freddie Mercury composed the tune, says he was inspired as he heard the song take shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea for all the instrumental stuff in \u2018Rhapsody\u2019 was growing while I was listening to him developing the song,\u201d May tells Rolling Stone<\/a>. \u201cFreddie had some amazingly lateral thought processes. \u200aIt was always easier for me to play on his songs than mine, \u2019cause there was so much stimulation coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifty years on, some stimulation is still required to play the song\u2019s guitar parts. That includes his guitar solo. Recorded with his Red Special<\/a> electric guitar<\/a> into a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster<\/a>, a custom-built Deacy amp<\/a> and a “wet\/dry\/wet” setup of multiple Vox AC30 combos<\/a>, May’s big moment in “Bohemian Rhapdosy” is regularly cited as one of the greatest guitar solos<\/a> in all of rock. Its presence in the song is entirely due to May saying he would like to, in effect, sing a verse on guitar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But 50 years on, May says that, like the rest of the tune, it isn\u2019t exactly ingrained in his muscle memory.<\/p>\n

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Bohemian Rhapsody<\/a>\u2019 is never that easy to play, even after all these years,\u201d he admits. \u201cI still have to keep my wits about me or I\u2019ll fall off the train.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the complication is, no doubt, the layered vocal harmonies. As May reveals, they were inspired by none other than the Beatles, whose three-part harmonies on their recorded tracks were an inspiration for countless groups, from the Bee Gees to<\/p>\n

Queen.In particular, May says the vocals in \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d were influienced by the Fab Four\u2019s \u201cBecause,\u201d a gorgeous, complex bit of sonic magic from 1969\u2019s Abbey Road.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were transfixed,\u201d the guitarist says. \u201cI can feel the shivers going up my spine. We thought, \u2018Oh, my God, that has to be the most daring piece of pure harmony we\u2019ve ever heard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In particular, May says the vocals in \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d were influienced by the Fab Four\u2019s \u201cBecause,\u201d a gorgeous, complex bit of sonic magic from 1969\u2019s Abbey Road.<\/p>\n

We thought, \u2018Oh, my God, that has to be the most daring piece of pure harmony we\u2019ve ever heard.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2014 Brian May<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were transfixed,\u201d the guitarist says. \u201cI can feel the shivers going up my spine. We thought, \u2018Oh, my God, that has to be the most daring piece of pure harmony we\u2019ve ever heard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Beatles achieved the effect by stacking their vocal harmonies in the studio to create an even bigger sound than its three creators \u2014 John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison \u2014 could alone. May says that technique was behind Queen\u2019s decision to overdub their voices countless times to create a chorale effect.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t just \u201cBecause.\u201d Even an older track like 1964\u2019s mesmerizing \u201cThis Boy\u201d was behind Queen\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was everything the Beatles did,\u201d May says. \u201cWe were able to sort of take up where the Beatles left off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Brian\n<\/p>\n

Brian May \u2014 seen onstage at ANZ Stadium, in Sydney, February 16, 2020 \u2014 says he prefers a residency at the Las Vegas Sphere to touring. (Image credit: Cole Bennetts\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Although the 50-year anniversary of “Bohemian Rhapsody” \u2014 and the celebrated album on which it appears, A Night at the Opera \u2014 seems ample reason for a celebratory jaunt, May says he\u2019s not keen on touring. Now 78 years old, May \u2014 who had a stroke in 2024<\/a> \u2014 says he prefers to be home.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI\u2019ve had 50 years of touring and there\u2019s a part of me that thinks it\u2019s enough,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t like the idea that you wake up in your hotel room and you\u2019re trapped.<\/p>\n

I sat there watching the Eagles, thinking, We should do this. The stuff that we could bring to this would be stupendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Brian May<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a few experiences recently where stuff happened at home with my family and I could not go home. It got under my skin and I just thought, \u2018I\u2019m not sure if I want this anymore.\u2019 I feel like I\u2019ve given up my freedom too many times.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo my feeling at the moment is I don\u2019t want to tour as such. I still want to play shows. I still want to innovate.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, May is eyeing a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas. He said the venue\u2019s 360-degree visuals inspired his idea to perform there after he saw an Eagles concert there earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sat there watching the Eagles, thinking, We should do this. The stuff that we could bring to this would be stupendous.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, yeah, I would like to do it. We\u2019re having conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d reaches the half-century mark, it\u2019s not getting any easier to play, says Brian May. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-173376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}