Brian May
Latest about Brian May

Brian May’s new signature Gibson JS-200 features a subtle tribute to Freddie Mercury
By Phil Weller last updated
May's new acoustic has another quirky feature — reversed string pairs that suit his style of strumming

Brian May tells how he fought the naysayers to make the Red Special Queen's secret weapon
By Phil Weller published
The homemade guitar had its issues at first, but the guitarist and his father refused to give up and forged one of rock’s most iconic guitars

Queen’s Brian May on Jeff Beck and the six guitar tones that changed his life
By Phil Weller published
May says guitars were illegal at his school, but he snuck one in and practiced Hank Marvin, Elvis and Buddy Holly songs with his friends

Brian May recalls meeting Rory Gallagher in the late ‘60s and how it changed his tone forever
By Phil Weller published
He’s also revealed how he had initially craved a second guitarist in Queen but moved away from the idea after learning how “to make people feel they’d heard an orchestra”

Brian May details his disastrous experiment with a Marshall stack — and how Jimi Hendrix then showed him up with it
By Phil Weller published
He tried out the amp in front of 7,000 people before Jimi Hendrix showed him how to make it sing

Elvis Costello identifies what AI is really all about. And it isn't music
By Phil Weller published
While the Beatles used the technology to complete their last single, Brian May and Sting are among those who are worried about the potential for harm

David Gilmour talks soloing in Guitar Player's guide to the Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
By Guitar Player Staff published
Behold the genius of Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Brian May and many more — as voted by the readers of Guitar Player

Brian May plays guitar for the first time since suffering a minor stroke last month
By Jonathan Graham published
The Queen legend made his surprise appearance at a Red Special convention over the weekend

Watch Brian May and the Guns N' Roses guitarist jam Queen's “Tie Your Mother Down” on Jay Leno in 1993
By Jonathan Graham published
Launching his debut solo album back in the early 1990s, Brian May enlisted Slash for some added firepower during his 'Tonight Show' appearance

“For me it was just frustrating”: Why Brian May never took to the Strat or Les Paul
By Jackson Maxwell published
In Queen's early days, May didn't have backup copies of the Red Special – let alone a company that manufactures replicas of it – leading him to keep both models around as Plan Bs
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