Music
Guitarist Brian May thought twice about leaving Queen
Queen guitarist Brian May speaks during a panel discussion. photo
© Ennio Leanza/KEYSTONE/dpa
There was always tension between the members of the rock band. Musician Brian May repeatedly considered leaving the group.
“It was hard. It was very difficult because you get so frustrated. It’s like four people wanting to put paint on the same canvas. It’s really difficult.”
However, no one in the group seriously considered the end of Queen, May reported, including himself. “It was just too valuable to give up,” said the guitar legend. “Even though there was a lot of competition between us, we were so strong as a team. And the fact that Queen were so big around the world wasn’t something you could just throw away.”
“It was worth it”
In the early 1980s, Queen had experienced great tension around the recording of the album “Hot Space” and the subsequent tour, especially between singer Freddie Mercury and the other members. During this time, May recorded his first solo album “Star Fleet Project”, for which he was able to win over guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen, among others. The joint recordings from April 1983 can be heard in full for the first time in a new box set that was released on Friday (July 14).
By the way, in August 1983 Brian May was back in the studio with Freddie Mercury, John Deacon and Roger Taylor to record the next Queen album “The Works”. “I think we all had enough sense to understand that even though it was exhausting, it was worth it,” May said today. “That was also the reason for the song ‘Was It All Worth It?’.” The song from Queen’s album The Miracle (1989) ends with the lyric: “It was worth it.”