Brian May is trying to calm speculation about Queen’s future after it was widely reported that the band would never tour again. Those reports – including Guitar Player’s own – were based on comments he made in a recent interview with the Sunday Times, in which he explained why he’d rather not hit the road ever again.
“I made a decision 18 months ago that I didn’t want to tour again,” May said in the interview. “A close family friend died when we were in the States, so I said to my tour manager, ‘I’ll just nip home for a few days and come back.’ She looked me in the eyes and said, ‘You know you can’t do that.’”
He added: “I love to play, I love to travel, but the trade-off is sacrificing your freedom. I have a wife, grandchildren and a lot of astrophysics I want to do, so I’m thinking maybe 50 years is enough.”
Performing with Adam Lambert on the Rhapsody Tour, the last by Queen + Adam Lambert, November 11, 2023. (Image credit: Corine Solberg/Getty Images)
Outlets — including the original Times piece — interpreted his comments to mean that Queen wouldn’t return to the road.
But in a new Instagram post, citing Rolling Stone’s version of the story, May says that’s not the case.
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“This is a misinterpretation of what I actually said,” he wrote. “I have actually never said Queen won’t ever tour again. I could never say never.
“I simply made a personal decision last year to take a break from touring. I’ve been making lots of music, and Roger and I are constantly working together on Queen projects behind the scenes. I don’t know what the future holds. I’m ever open to new adventures!”
Onstage with Freddie Mercury in the 1970s. (Image credit: Michael Ochs/Getty Images)
He’d said in the Times interview that those adventures might include a show based on his band’s music, although he had reservations about making it: “Last year I went to the Sphere, my juices started flowing and I sketched out a whole Queen show.
“I think an immersive experience is still on the cards and it could conquer time and space, but currently you can’t make it without AI and I have serious misgivings about that.”