Sir Brian May, the 79-year-old Queen guitarist, has added another creative project to his extensive portfolio: The Red Special Gin, created with Portobello Road Distillery. The gin uses ingredients like exotic calamondin, which May grows in his greenhouse, continuing the spirit of invention that led him to build his iconic Red Special electric guitar with his father, Harold May, in 1963.
May, who is also an astrophysicist and animal welfare activist, said the gin project reflects his love for homespun, humanly made creations. "I love creative projects, things that are homespun, humanly made, not big mass productions. Something where there's real thought, creativity and regionality," he told Metro. "It's been like working on an album. An album is very much about content, but the way it's packaged is crucial. And to me, this is like my album cover."
Not a conventional celebrity product
May emphasised that this is not a typical celebrity-endorsed product. "I'm not a person who likes to just put my name on something. And that's always been the case. I'm a worker and creator, not a celebrity," he said. "I have many facets. And during my life that's something that I've fought for, not to be put in a box, to have the ability to work in different areas, to combine art with science. It's always been important to me."
May is also collaborating with Star Trek icon William Shatner, 95, on a new metal music project. "At the moment I'm planning to put out an album with all of them. The problem is what to leave out because we have a list of about 120!" he laughed.
Fears over AI and a stalled Queen hologram show
May is a vocal advocate against the use of AI, having previously called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to block data centres being built in the UK. "I think it's very frightening and we need to control it. We're at a very, very dangerous point. I'm in admiration of technology, but I do think there's a danger we're going to destroy ourselves in the process one way or another," he said.
He recalled axing a demo of his music video for My Angels Are Calling after AI was used in the process. "I was given a demo and suddenly there are these lovely angels bursting out of clouds and I thought, 'Wow, this is great. How did you do this? It wasn't AI, was it?' And they went, 'Well, yeah, it is…' I'm not comfortable with that. I don't want to be stealing people's work."
He added: "If AI goes off and replaces human beings, I think we're all in very dangerous territory and we've seen that it can make a terrible fool of itself. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it could be used to stop war, for instance? I'm not clever enough to make that happen, but I would like to see that."
Plans for a Queen version of an ABBA Voyage-style hologram show are currently stalled, partly due to his AI concerns. "We did make some plans, and it could still happen," he said. "I had a vision in my head of what we could do as a Queen show. It's stalled at the moment, partly because of the AI thing. I want to make sure that if we embark on such a project, we're not taking advantage of existing artists."
Remembering Freddie Mercury
November marks 35 years since the death of May's bandmate and friend Freddie Mercury. May said he does not celebrate the anniversary. "I don't celebrate the anniversary of his death. It's a day to avoid because it brings up pain. The day he died was one of the most terrible days of our lives," he said. "I acknowledge Freddie all the time and he's in my life very strongly. I know Roger [Taylor] feels the same. There isn't anything that we do where we don't refer to him in some way; the times we had together, the values and adventures that we shared."
The Red Special Gin features a sixpence set into the lid, reflecting May's signature guitar pick, and each bottle is sequentially numbered, with May keeping number 000001 and Portobello Road Distillery retaining 000002. Visitors to the distillery's Ginstitute can also craft their own bespoke gin. The product is available for preorder from Portobello Road Distillery online.
