Sir Brian May has said he does not plan to mark the 35th anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s death, describing the day the Queen frontman died as “one of the most terrible days of our lives.”
The guitarist, 79, spoke to the Metro ahead of the November 24 anniversary, explaining that he avoids the date because of the pain it brings up. Mercury died in 1991 at the age of 45 from complications related to AIDS.
A day to avoid
“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. I acknowledge Freddie all the time and he’s in my life very strongly,” May said.
He added that fellow Queen bandmate Roger Taylor shares his view: “I know Roger 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.”
End of touring
The comments follow May’s earlier announcement that he would stop touring with Queen, telling The Times he does not want to do it again. He cited the energy touring takes out of him and a desire to be home should anything happen, after he was unable to leave a previous tour when a close friend died.
“I made a decision 18 months ago that I didn’t want to tour again. 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.’ I love to play, I love to travel, but the trade-off is sacrificing your freedom,” he said.
May stressed that Queen would remain active and continue producing material. Taylor said they hoped to do something similar to what ABBA has done, though not necessarily with virtual performers. “We do want to do something fairly revolutionary. Not as Abba did, but along those lines,” May said.
Mercury’s final famous big note was recorded midway through the song “Mother Love,” the last verse of which May had to sing because Mercury had died by that point.
