Sir Brian May has always been outspoken on any topic he feels passionate about, be it politics and Brexit, or the protection of British wildlife and abolition of fox hunting. As a man of great artistic individuality and moral integrity, the guitarist of British rock band Queen has never shied away from speaking his mind. Now 78 and still actively performing, May has used his platform to speak out at a new issue – the current societal landscape in the United States of America.

Speaking to Richard Eden of the Daily Mail, May said “America is a dangerous place at the moment, so you have to take that into account.” Indeed, since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term as president in January last year, British touring acts have been apprehensive to cross the pond. The US has been plagued by mass shootings and assassinations of prominent figures, violence in the pursuit of expelling illegal immigrants, and Trump’s economic warfare costing the average citizen more each week. This has all created an ever-deepening civil unrest on American streets, with both domestic and international tensions reaching a fever-pitch.

May goes on to say “it’s very sad because I feel like Queen grew up in America, and we love it, but it’s not what it was. Everyone is thinking twice about going there at the moment.” He’s not wrong, Queen have been incredibly popular in the US, having had 2 number one hits with ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ and ‘A Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, their international mega-hit ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ falling short at second place. They have spent 346 weeks on Billboard’s Artist 100, with five successive top 10 albums between 1975 and 1980, when ‘The Game’ got them their first US number one record.

His remarks this week follow a public conflict the band had with the US President during his first term in 2020. Trump has drawn criticism from many acts for using their music without permission for his rallies and campaign videos, with notable examples like Bruce Springsteen refusing to humour his use of ‘Born In The USA’. In this instance, Queen attempted to withdraw usage of their songs ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ due to disagreements with Trump’s policy.

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Queen are currently on a pause from recording and touring since wrapping their Rhapsody tour, which ran from 2019 to 2024 and made two laps of the States. After frontman Freddie Mercury’s passing in 1991, they have performed since 2011 with American Idol star Adam Lambert as vocalist. While the last Queen + Adam Lambert show was in Tokyo in 2024, May’s last public performance was with Queen drummer Roger Taylor at The Last Night Of The Proms in September 2025.

Earlier this year Sir Brian also announced he would never play Glastonbury Festival, due to objections with how its organisers at Worthy Farm treated their local wildlife. Amidst the uncertainty of Queen’s immediate future, he has hinted that things are far from over. Again speaking to the Daily Mail, he made allusions to new music and potential shows, saying “Never say never about not coming back, the rebuild of Queen Two is coming back, and there are a couple of things you haven’t heard.”

The song was originally recorded during sessions for Queen’s 1974 album ‘Queen II’, however, it didn’t make the final cut. The remastered version is set to feature in the upcoming 2026 release of the album.

While a bootleg version of the song may have already circulated online by Brian’s pre-Queen band, Smile, the guitarist has said that “no-one” has heard this version.

Sir Brain said, “It’s a song that goes back a very long way, but to my knowledge no one has ever heard this version. It’s a work in progress and will appear on the forthcoming rebuild of the Queen II album – coming next year – but I’m sneaking this into my Planet Rock special because I’m fascinated to know what people think about it.”

Fans will be able to hear the song for the first time during Sir Brian’s Planet Rock Christmas Special at 6pm tonight. The radio special, which will also be repeated on Christmas Day, will also include a hand-picked selection of Sir Brian’s favourite Christmas and seasonal tracks. The musician will also reflect on the music, stories and memories that have shaped his own Christmases over the last few years.

Fans can expect a range of tunes from Bad News to Slade, Chuck Berry and The Crystals, including a Christmas hit by Sir Brian’s wife, singer and actress Anita Dobson.

Formed in the 1970s, Queen was made up of guitarist Sir Brian, drummer Roger Taylor, late frontman Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon. The group has since had six UK number one singles and 10 UK number one albums with some of their best known songs including ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Killer Queen’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, and ‘We Are The Champions’.

They won multiple BRIT Awards, including Outstanding Contribution to Music, recognising their lasting influence on British culture. The band were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, celebrating their historic impact. Queen also earned several Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting excellence. In 2020, they received the BRIT Billion Award for surpassing one billion UK streams, underlining their enduring popularity across generations.

Earlier this year Queen were named the most played rock act on UK radio and TV in the 21st century, according to the music licensing company, Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).

Brian May’s Planet Rock Christmas Special will air on Planet Rock tonight at 6pm, with a repeat broadcast on Christmas Day at 1pm.

He added, “It would be nice to create something new. I wouldn’t dismiss the idea. Adam has told us, ‘If you ever want me to sing on something…’ So if the three of us agree to go for it, I’d absolutely be on board.”

The collaboration between May, Taylor, and Adam Lambert dates back to American Idol in May 2009, when they performed “We Are The Champions” together. They reunited in 2011 at the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast, Ireland, delivering a high-energy eight-minute performance of “The Show Must Go On,” “We Will Rock You,” and “We Are The Champions.” By the summer of 2012, Lambert had taken the stage with QUEEN for a series of European shows, including performances in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Since then, they have toured extensively, headlining major festivals across the globe.

Despite their success as a live act, Lambert has previously expressed reservations about recording new music with QUEEN. In a 2019 interview with Hunger magazine, he admitted: “People always ask if we want to record together, but I’m not sure it would make total sense. To me, QUEEN is Freddie. What I love most is collaborating, putting these concerts together, and creating on stage—it’s incredibly rewarding. When I bring new ideas to these two legends and they like them, that’s the best part.”

May has previously praised Lambert as the only singer capable of doing justice to QUEEN’s extensive catalog since Freddie Mercury’s passing in 1991 due to AIDS-related complications. “Adam is the first person we’ve worked with who can handle the entire QUEEN catalog without hesitation,” May stated. “He is a gift from God.” Taylor echoed those sentiments, saying: “He’s incredibly musical, and we certainly take anything he says very seriously.”

For his part, Lambert has always been careful to differentiate himself from Mercury. “There’s never going to be another, and I’m not replacing him,” he explained. “That’s not what this is about. I want to keep his memory alive and remind people of how incredible he was—without trying to imitate him. My goal is to show audiences just how much he inspired me.”

Five years ago, in an interview with Classic Rock magazine, May and Taylor admitted that they had attempted to record a song with Lambert but ultimately decided against releasing it. “We did record a song that we never actually finished,” Taylor revealed at the time. “I can’t even remember what it was called. I think we were still debating the name.” May added, “It was a track we tried adapting from a friend’s original idea. It had potential, but we just couldn’t quite crack it.”

Taylor has remained open to the idea of a new QUEEN album featuring Lambert. Meanwhile, in 2022, QUEEN released a rediscovered song, “Face It Alone,” which featured Mercury’s vocals.

Day 3 of the festival did not disappoint, as The Offspring stunned audiences with their hits such as ‘Come Out And Play’, and ‘Self-Esteem’. Brian May them graced them with his presence for ‘Gone Away’, and a cover of his own Queen song, ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ alongside the iconic punk band The Offspring for a once in a lifetime performance.

May was also found on stage with Jean-Michel Jarre, the iconic French composer and performer, who holds the record for hosting the most attended performance in history. He joined Jarre on the opening night of the festival, and performed a number of songs with him, including: ‘Deuxième Rendez-Vous’, ‘Last Horizon’, and another Queen cover, ‘Brighton Rock’.

The festival is known as the “world’s largest science, music and other arts festival” and is part of the Sonic Universe concert, after the Stephen Hawking Medal Ceremony, in partnership with ESET, Brian May, a secret astrophysicist, is also co-founder of the festival. This year, the focus of the events was on Planet Earth, featuring four days of exciting lectures. During the festival, they also brought the world renowned Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, which awards individuals in Science Writing, Films & Entertainment, Lifetime Achievement, and Music and Arts. The winners of these awards are decided by the Starmus Advisory Board, which is made up of high-ranking individuals such as: Peter Gabriel, Brian May, and Garik Israelian. Additionally, the festival collaborates with universities and institutions in Slovakia, such as the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Slovak University of Technology, allowing Starmus to fulfil its “City Program” and providing opportunities for volunteers to be part of the festival.

When asked his thoughts on the recent advancements in AI platforms, the 76-year-old expressed his fear on it’s potential impact and how he thinks AI could change the music industry for the worse.

May told the magazine, “My major concern with it now is in the artistic area. I think by this time next year the landscape will be completely different. We won’t know which way is up. We won’t know what’s been created by AI and what’s been created by humans,”

He continued, “Everything is going to get very blurred and very confusing, and I think we might look back on 2023 as the last year when humans really dominated the music scene. I really think it could be that serious, and that doesn’t fill me with joy. It makes me feel apprehensive, and I’m preparing to feel sad about this.”

Whilst the English rock legend claims that “a lot of great stuff will come from AI, because it is going to increase the powers of humans to solve problems”, he is still apprehensive about the technological advance, stating “I think the whole thing is massively scary. It’s much more far-reaching than anybody realised — well, certainly than I realised”.

The notion of using computers to generate music is definitely not new, however, recent leaps in AI technology have expanded the possibilities of what computers can do in the music industry. For example, AI platforms such as ChatGPT are now able to replicate songwriting and music production to create entirely computer generated music, therefore eliminating the whole writing and recording process artists go through.

Brian May is not the first musician to share their thoughts on AI’s impact on the music industry, and he definitely won’t be the last.

Nick Cave revealed in his blog, The Red Hand Files, that he believes AI songwriting to be a “grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”, while Sting told the BBC that he isn’t impressed by AI, and songwriters will have to fight to protect “our human capital against AI”.

Some artists however, are seemingly big fans of the way technology is evolving in the music industry. For example, Canadian singer-songwriter Grimes is allowing fans to use her voice in AI generated songs, so long as they share the royalties with her.

I’ll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings. pic.twitter.com/KIY60B5uqt

— Grimes (@Grimezsz) April 24, 2023

Brian May‘s conversation with Guitar Player magazine is set to feature in the October 2023 issue, however, you can read the interview online here.

The final sale was reportedly slightly below estimates but auctioneers Sotheby’s have said that it is a record for a piano.

The item was amongst thousands of Mercury’s former possessions that were auctioned on Wednesday after being held on display for several weeks.

Further items were sold at the auction including the door to Mercury’s Garden Lodge West London, home which went for a whopping £412,750, way under the projected estimation of £15,000-25,000.

Furthermore, a 15-page original manuscript for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, originally titled ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ was sold £1.3 million. The manuscript reveals different versions and directions that Mercury experimented with whilst writing the song. Similar notes are also still available for massive hits like ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and ‘Somebody To Love’.

Mercury also had an extensive art collection including pieces from big name artists like Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, all of which are going under the hammer in upcoming live auctions.

Personal items from Mercury’s wardrobe were sold including his trademark flamboyant costumes worn for concerts; also sold was his designer crown and cloak as well as a vast variety of kimonos.

A total of 1,469 items from his Garden Lodge home are up for sale by Mary Austen, a former fiancé and friend of the Queen frontman.

Freddy Mercury’s former band mate and Queen guitarist took to Instagram to share the emotional difficulties he had with the auction, he said: “Tomorrow … Freddie’s most intimate personal effects, and writings that were part of what we shared for so many years, will go under the hammer, to be knocked down to the highest bidder and dispersed for ever. I can’t look. To us, his closest friends and family, it’s too sad.”

The first night of the #TheWorldofFreddieMercury auction series saw bidders from 61 countries drive 93% of lots over their estimate, with Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics and Freddie’s Yamaha piano leading the sale.

Read more: https://t.co/8hU3uaiB5f

— Sotheby’s (@Sothebys) September 6, 2023

At the start of the auction, auctioneer Oliver Barker had this to say: “What we’ve witnessed here at Sotheby’s these last few weeks is nothing short of phenomenal. It has captured the hearts and minds of the public all over the world. By the time the doors closed yesterday, on this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, we welcomed 140,000 visitors.”

The auction house, Soethby’s, hosted a month-long free open exhibition prior to the auction. The whole auction sale itself is estimated to bring in at least £6 million. Part of the proceeds for the sale will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and The Elton John Aids Foundation.

The 1978 classic has been canned from the collection in order to create a product more appropriate for younger audiences. The new collection itself is being released on Yoto – a music platform targeted at children.

About the collection, a description on Yoto’s website reads: “It’s the ideal introduction to the music of QUEEN for young music lovers and the perfect soundtrack to kitchen dance parties, road trip singalongs, bedtime air guitar sessions….and much much more”

The track features lyrics such as “Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go round” and “But their beauty and their style went kind of smooth after a while, Take me to the dirty ladies every time”. It seems lyrics like these are the driving force behind the song being canned in favour of having a more appropriate collection of songs for younger children.

Despite the song’s omission from the collection, the rest of the track list from the original 1981 collection has been left untouched, still incorporating classics like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are The Champions”.

However, a warning has been issued alongside the release stating: “Please note that the lyrics in some of these songs contain adult themes, including occasional references to violence and drugs. These are the original and unedited recordings. Whilst no swear words are used parental discretion is advised when playing this content to or around younger children.”

The lyrics were written by both guitarist Brian May and vocalist Freddie Mercury. May told Mojo Magazine in 2008: “I wrote it with Fred (late Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury) in mind, as you do, especially if you’ve got a great singer who likes fat bottomed girls… or boys.”

A music insider told the Daily Mail: “It is the talk of the music industry. Nobody can work out why such a good-natured, fun song can’t be acceptable in today’s society. It is woke gone mad. Why not appreciate people of all shapes and sizes like society is saying we should, rather than get rid of it?”

This isn’t the first time the song has been met with controversy, however. Upon the song’s release in 1978, several record stores would refuse to stock the single version of the track due to the original sleeve cover showing a barely dressed woman riding a bicycle.

No comment has yet to be made from the original band members at this time.

“I’m happy that our team were able to find this track,” said guitarist Brian May, “After all these years, it’s great to hear all four of us, yes, Deacy is there too, working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed… until now.” The album will not only feature this lost track but it will also include some of the band’s conversations in studios in London and Montreux, Switzerland.“It was kind of hiding in plain sight,” May continued, “We looked at it many times and thought, oh, no, we can’t really rescue that. But, in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, ok, we can do this and this. It’s kind of stitching bits together.”

Roger Taylor, Queen’s drummer, went on to say that they had “kind of forgotten about this track,” but described the song as “wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.” This will mark the first new song featuring Freddie Mercury since the Queen Forever album which was released in 2014. It featured three unheard tracks: ‘Love Kills’, ‘Let Me In Your Heart Again’, and ‘There Must Be More to Life Than This’.

The original release of The Miracle went to number one in the UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland and received critical acclaim with Rolling Stone saying: “The Miracle is a showcase for Freddie Mercury and his love of sweeping, quasi-operatic vocals. And indeed, Mercury – especially on the title track – has never sounded better…”

Queen formed in 1970 and went on to be one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. Their 1981 Greatest Hits album is the best-selling album in the UK and has been certified nine times platinum in the US. The band comprised of Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) and John Deacon (bass). Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991 from AIDs-related complications. He performed for the final time with Queen at Knebworth in 1986. Today, Roger Taylor and Brian May still perform as Queen with Adam Lambert on vocals.

The talented drummer tragically passed in March of this year aged 50; a cause of death is yet to be announced. His band mates were left “devastated” by his passing and all upcoming Foo Fighters shows were cancelled. Three months later, the band, along with the Hawkins Family, announced two tribute concerts to celebrate his life and work. The first of which will take place at Wembley Stadium in London on 3rd September, followed by a show in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum on 27th September.

The show will support two charities selected by the Hawkins Family. The first, Music Support, helps those who work in music and live events affected by mental ill-health and/or addiction. The concert will also provide funding to MusiCares, which provides a “safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need”

The band also announced that they will be streaming the events live to those in the UK and US. The London show will be streamed on Saturday 3rd September at 4.30pm on MTV YouTube Channels (Globally) and Pluto TV (Internationally) along with Paramount +. Bob Bakish, president and CEO at Paramount said, “Music is a powerful connector, and we are honoured to commemorate Taylor Hawkins’ enduring legacy”. Paramount are set to present the entire concert live. The presentation has bn directed by Joel Gallen and Produced by Emer Patten at EP-PIC Films & Creative. The Wembley Stadium show will be available to stream live and on demand across Paramount’s streaming and digital platforms, including some special editions. CBS Television Network will broadcast an hour-long version of the on Saturday 3rd September  and MTV will offer air a one-hour special across its channels around the world, followed by an extended two-hour special that will air globally in September.

Taylor’s success behind the kit leaves a lasting legacy. He recorded nine studio albums with Foo Fighters and was the touring drummer for Sass Jordan and Alanis Morissette. He was voted Best Rock Drummer by drumming magazine Rhythm twice and was inducted, alongside his bandmates, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His final performance with the Foo Fighters Lollapalooza Argentina festival was on March 20th. The following month, Foo Fighters won three Grammy awards. 

He and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl had a special bond, which Dave wrote about in his 2021 memoir, The Storyteller, he wrote: “Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we ever played together,” “I am not afraid to say that our chance meeting was a kind of love at first sight, igniting a musical ‘twin flame’ that still burns to this day. Together, we have become an unstoppable duo, onstage and off, in pursuit of any and all adventure we can find.”

London! Please welcome the first wave of special guests to join The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts! More to be announced soon.

Tickets on sale Friday 17 June at 9am local time. pic.twitter.com/6vsdo2n5js

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) June 15, 2022

While there are yet to be any names confirmed for the Los Angeles date, there’s still plenty of time for information to surface. Tickets to the London show go on sale here this Friday (June 17^th) so if you were ever on the fence about whether or not to bag a ticket, then presumably this first announcement will have swayed you.

Along with the announcement of the shows, the Hawkins family also released a statement showing their gratitude towards the community created by Foo Fighters, and the general music scene he affected so greatly.

“As Taylor’s wife, and on behalf of our children, I want to share how much you meant to him and how dedicated he was to ‘knocking your socks off’ during every performance. Taylor was honoured to be a part of the Foo Fighters and valued his dream role in the band every minute of his 25 years with them. We consider every band member and the extended Foo Fighters team our family.
“Taylor’s endearing spirit and deep love of music will live on forever through the collaborations he so enjoyed having with other musicians and the catalogue of songs he contributed to and created.
“In celebration of his life, it is now up to all of us who loved him most to honour Taylor’s legacy and the music he gave us.”

 While some of the appearances may come as a slight surprise, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush, for instance, many of them are clear to even the public eye. Foo Fighters’ relationship with Brian May and Roger Taylor (from Queen, obviously) goes way back to the In Your Honour tour where the band played with the pair for a rendition of ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ featuring Hawkins on lead vocals. You can watch the performance below.