{"id":369538,"date":"2026-10-10T02:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T02:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/369538\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T02:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T02:42:13","slug":"brian-may-on-queens-epic-new-concert-film-and-the-future-of-the-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/369538\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian May on Queen\u2019s epic new concert film and the future of the band"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 27, 1986, Queen<\/a> made history by becoming the first Western rock band to play an outdoor stadium show behind the Iron Curtain. Elton John played a run of indoor shows in Russia in 1979, and Iron Maiden kicked off their 1984 World Slavery tour with a run of dates in Poland. Yet Queen\u2019s appearance at the 80,000-capacity N\u00e9pstadion in the Hungarian capital Budapest set a new benchmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believed music was for people \u2013 and people are everywhere,\u201d Queen guitarist Brian May tells Classic Rock<\/a> in a brand new interview. \u201cWe tried to avoid politics, and even play places people told us we shouldn\u2019t play. For years, Hungary and these places in Eastern Europe were unreachable to us. It was exciting to open the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This landmark gig was filmed for the concert film Queen Budapest, which has recently been restored in retina-dazzling 4K and set for release on DVD\/Blu-ray on October 30. The film shows Queen in their mid-80s pomp and features such nailed-on classics as Now I\u2019m Here, Hammer To Fall and Bohemian Rhapsody<\/a>. It also captures the moment when Mercury treats the crowd to a solo version of beloved Hungarian folk ballad Tavaszi Sz\u00e9l Vizet \u00c1raszt, with the singer surreptitiously reading from a set of phonetic lyrics scribbled on his hand.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFreddie singing the folk song meant so much to the audience,\u201d says photographer Denis O\u2019Regan, who accompanied the band to Hungary. \u201cI spent time on the hotel terrace overlooking the Danube, with Freddie and Roger rehearsing it. When I speak to people in Budapest now, they still say it was such a moment in their cultural history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queen Budapest also shows the band making their grand entrance into the city four days before the concert. \u201cWe came in from Vienna, down the Danube on hydrofoils,\u201d drummer Roger Taylor tells Classic Rock. \u201cOn one side you had what was then Czechoslovakia, and that was just one big, electrified fence. Then we came into Hungary, and I remember this splendid parliament building in Budapest that Freddie thought would make a lovely home.\u201d (\u201cIs it for sale?\u201d Mercury quips in the film).<\/p>\n

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\"Queen\n<\/p>\n

Freddie Mercury onstage in Budapest on July 27, 1986 (Image credit: Sony Music)<\/p>\n

Yet the triumph is tinged with sadness. This tour, in support of 1986\u2019s A Kind Of Magic album, would be their last. Less than three weeks after the Budapest gig, Queen played what turned out to be their final show, at Knebworth on August 9, 1986. Neither May nor Taylor know exactly when Mercury was diagnosed with HIV, though the guitarist wonders today if the singer was aware of it at the time of the Knebworth gig.<\/p>\n

\u201cI distinctly remember backstage after Knebworth, Freddie with a drink in his hand, saying: \u2018I can\u2019t do this any more after this,\u2019\u201d recalls May. \u201cWe all looked at him as if to say \u2018Okay,\u2019 because that was the kind of stuff Freddie would always say. But I think at that point he knew his life was going to change radically and he wouldn\u2019t be able to do it any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mercury died in 1991, effectively marking the end of Queen. May and Taylor united with former Free\/Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers in 2004 as Queen + Paul Rodgers. In 2011, they relaunched the band with former American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, embarking on a series of hugely successful tours. But they haven\u2019t played live under the Queen name since two shows in Japan in February 2024, and while May takes a \u2018never say never\u2019 approach to future shows, people shouldn\u2019t hold their breath.<\/p>\n

Queen – Radio Ga Ga (Live in Budapest) – YouTube
\n\"Queen<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a big \u2018I don\u2019t know\u2019 from me,\u201d the guitarist tells Classic Rock. \u201cI\u2019m not bursting at the seams to do it again. When we finished in America the last time [in November 2023] I wanted to take a proper break, and that\u2019s lasted until now. I wanted to pick up some pieces and be a better parent and grandparent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band may be dormant, but the Queen brand is as strong as ever. But in an alternative universe, if Freddie Mercury was still here, would he and Queen have stayed together?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I think so,\u201d says May. \u201cI\u2019d have still been doing my stuff and Roger would have been off doing his things, but if Freddie was here we would probably be touring next year. We\u2019d always come back to The Mothership.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved it \u2013 absolutely loved it \u2013 and don\u2019t let anyone ever tell you otherwise,\u201d adds May of Mercury in his capacity as rock\u2019s greatest live performer, as showcased in Queen Budapest. \u201cHe lived for those moments and was in his element. Up on that stage he was king.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full interview with Brian May and Roger Taylor in the brand new issue of Classic Rock, on sale now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"The\n<\/p>\n

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