Legendary Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed that he suffered a stroke last week and temporarily lost the use of his left arm.
May broke the news on social media on Wednesday morning (September 4), calling the scare a “minor health setback” and assuring fans that he can still play guitar.
“I'm here to bring you some good news: the good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days,” May said in a statement. Instagram while twisting the fingers of his left hand. “I say this because I was in doubt because that little health setback I mentioned happened a week ago and they called it a mild stroke. It scared me a little bit, I have to say.”
May said he lost control of his arm “suddenly” due to the stroke, but praised doctors for their “fantastic care” in getting him back on track quickly.
“I didn’t want to say anything at that moment because I didn’t want anyone around me, you know… I don’t really want sympathy,” May continued. “Please don’t do that because you’ll fill up my inbox and I hate that,” she joked.
The Queen's icon added that doctors have advised her not to do “basically anything” – not even drive or fly.
“I’m on the ground,” he added. “They don’t allow me to have planes flying over me, which would stress me out. But I’m fine.”
The mild stroke came after May suffered a heart attack in 2020, resulting in the guitarist having to undergo surgeries for three blocked arteries. He has since been touring with Queen, who recently completed a five-date tour of Japan in February.
You can see May's Instagram post below.
thanks to our partners at consequence.net