![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Brian-May-Queen-2017-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Raph_PH)<\/p>\n
Sun 18 January 2026 19:00, UK <\/p>\n
Queen axeman Brian May<\/a> surely sits in the top ten of UK guitarists?<\/p>\n There\u2019s stiff competition, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and David Gilmour all likely to muscle their way to the front of any such list, but May\u2019s melodic playing style and flair for grand harmonic wield proved an essential binding agent to Queen frontman Freddie Mercury\u2019s commanding vocals and opulent songcraft. Indeed, there\u2019s an air of regality to May\u2019s thunderous solos, a sensibility well planted in the rock and pop tradition while also reaching for classical\u2019s lofty heights.<\/p>\n Such bluster will wind up the detractors, but it\u2019s what hardcore Queen fans love about May. His unique guitar style and arrangements have been shaped over the years by the rollcall of 1950s and \u201860s guitar greats, Hank Marvin, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Jeff Beck have all been namechecked by the Queen guitarist at points, but May was particularly effusive with praise for one guitarist that often doesn\u2019t receive quite the same lauded plaudits as the aforementioned rock titans.<\/p>\n \u201cI love what Steve Cropper does,\u201d May told Classic Rock History in 2025. \u201cSteve has stayed so close to his roots; that\u2019s the amazing thing. He\u2019s still that guy playing solid\u2026 I don\u2019t even know how to express it; there\u2019s incredible integrity about the era that Steve helped to create.\u201d<\/p>\n To the unfamiliar, you\u2019ll have heard Cropper\u2019s guitar licks on the endlessly played \u2018Green Onions\u2019 instrumental with Booker T & the MG\u2019s<\/a>, and as one of the internal members of the Stax in-house band, Cropper sat in on sessions across a plethora of soul classics from the famed Memphis label, as well as sitting in the producer\u2019s chair and even penning original songs.<\/p>\n Cropper\u2019s Telecaster mastery would see him play with untold artists, Big Star, Frank Black, Chicago, Peter Frampton, Otis Redding, and even Leo Sayer, among countless big names eagerly recruiting Cropper\u2019s services. His Memphis sound proved so far-reaching that even The Beatles sought to work with him when their touring dates passed through Tennessee, manager Brian Epstein cancelling at the last minute.<\/p>\n