Queen’s Brian May Sets the Record Straight on Band’s Touring Future After Retirement Reports

Brian May clarifying his thoughts on touring. Days after the Queen singer made headlines for suggesting his time on the road had ended, he took to Instagram to insist that people had “misinterpreted” his comments.

“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,” he wrote. “I’ve been making lots of music. Roger [Taylor] 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!”

May’s latest statement came after he told The Times that he’d decided that he “didn’t want to tour again.”

“A close family friend died when we were in the States. I said to my tour manager, ‘I’ll just nip home for a few days and come back,’” he told the outlet. “She looked me in the eyes and said, ‘You know you can’t do that.’”

What Brian May Originally Said About Touring

“I love to play, I love to travel, but the trade-off is sacrificing your freedom,” May continued. “I have a wife, grandchildren and a lot of astrophysics I want to do, so I’m thinking maybe 50 years is enough.”

However, later in that same interview, May noted that he still thinks about what lies ahead for Queen.

“Last year I went to the Sphere, my juices started flowing. I sketched out a whole Queen show,” he said. “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.”

As for why the world is still interested in Queen more than five decades after they burst onto the scene, May stated, “It is because we wrote as ordinary people, not as rock stars.”

“We sang about pain, struggle, joy, dreams… emotions that ordinary people experience,” he said. “That and the fact that we wrote a few good tunes.”

Photo by Jo Hale/FilmMagic