Queen guitarist Sir Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor will not be marking the 35th anniversary of the tragic death of their bandmate and close friend Freddie Mercury.
Queen’s lead guitarist Sir Brian May has said he and fellow bandmate Roger Taylor both feel a similar way about a major upcoming anniversary for Queen.
Sir Brian, 79, has been a mainstay of the group alongside Roger, 77, across the near-half-century Queen has been performing, but there is one anniversary in particular that strikes home hard.
Although the band has achieved meteoric success, it has also been on the receiving end of tragedies too, most notably the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury on November 24, 1991. It is this event, the 35th anniversary of which is happening this year, that Sir Brian says he and Roger will not be marking.
Speaking to the Metro, he expressed that this is because of how “terrible” the loss was. Freddie was just 45-years-old when he died of complications arising from AIDS, a diagnosis he revealed just days before his death.
It was Freddie’s untimely death that resulted in one of the most emotional song endings, with the legendary frontman delivering his final big note midway through Mother Love, a track Sir Brian had to sing the final verse of because, by that point, his beloved friend had died.
On why he “avoids” the anniversary, Brian explained: “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. 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.”
It comes after Brian announced his decision to quit touring with Queen, with the astrophysicist admitting to The Times that he doesn’t want to do it again.
Nevertheless, the band continues as Freddie’s legacy lives on; but it was Freddie’s attitude towards his illness, even when Brian believes he knew the prognosis in the late-80s, that really inspired him.
Speaking to the publication, Sir Brian reflected on when he thought Freddie knew he was unwell, he thinks in around 1986, and how that has shaped his own perspective on the music they produced.
He said: “He came off stage at Knebworth and said: ‘I can’t do this any more,’ . He did have a tendency to be dramatic, so we thought Freddie was just being Freddie, but I now realise he already knew the prognosis, which was grim.”
Sir Brian added: “I remember reading about young men dying in America, and then we saw Freddie with these strange symptoms, so we put two and two together. It’s incredible that he carried on with such confidence and energy to the very end.”
In the years following 1986, Queen released a series of albums including The Miracle, Innuendo, and finally Made in Heaven which featured the aforementioned song Mother Love.
After Freddie’s death, despite questions about the future, the band continued to tour.
Although bassist John Deacon left in 1997, they acquired new members and, in the 21st Century, a new fanbase, who discovered the musicians through streaming and also their tours with Adam Lambert, who stepped into Freddie’s shoes as lead singer.
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