Queen’s Sir Brian May has revealed he wasn’t permitted to return home from tour and support his loved ones, including wife Anita Dobson, after ‘a close family friend died’.
Brian May and wife Anita Dobson(Image: Getty)
Sir Brian May, 79, has been on 18 tours with Queen and there’s still plenty of demand from fans. However, the band’s lead guitarist suffered a heartbreaking loss during their most recent concerts in the US, which prompted him to make a decision not to hit the road again.
Announcing the news in a joint interview with bandmate Roger Taylor, 77, the pair floated the idea of a Queen experience, which would give fans an opportunity to experience their live music without the need of a tour.
The duo were quizzed about the band’s future after Brian and Roger have spent recent years focusing on separate ventures, including Taylor’s solo album, Violence Insane in a Beautiful World, and May launching his own gin brand.
Sir Brian last took to the stage with Queen + Adam Lambert during The Rhapsody Tour, which wrapped up in Japan on 14 February 2024.
Opening up about his choice, he told The Times: “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.”
Brian went on to say: “I have a wife [the actress Anita Dobson], grandchildren and a lot of astrophysics I want to do, so I’m thinking maybe 50 years is enough.”
Brian and Anita got married in November 18, 2000, after meeting 14 years earlier in 1986. The former EastEnders and Doctor Who actress is stepmother to Brian’s three grown-up children, James, Louisa, and Emily Ruth, from his first marriage to Christine Mullen.
Despite this, Queen drummer Roger hinted that something exciting could still be in the pipeline for devoted fans eager to experience the band’s legendary music and performances from its beloved late frontman Freddie Mercury.
Drawing parallels with ABBA Voyage, the virtual concert featuring digital avatars of the iconic Swedish pop group, Roger revealed: “We do want to do something fairly revolutionary. Not as Abba did, but along those lines.”
However, there’s a significant obstacle hampering the plans, as both Roger and Brian remain deeply cautious about depending on AI to bring the experience to life.
He explained: “Last year I went to the Sphere [the planetarium-like concert hall in Las Vegas], my juices started flowing and I sketched out a whole Queen show.
“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.”
Sir Brian shares these concerns, having previously voiced his worries about AI and its environmental consequences through energy-hungry data centres.
He told Absolute Radio in September: “I spent a lot of time planning out what I thought could be a Queen show. I’ve kind of backed off now because you can’t do it without massive use of AI, with all the consequences of that.”
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