Queen Won’t Return To Touring, Says Brian May

Brian May has shared that Queen will no longer head out on tour.

The guitarist, 79, reached the decision 18 months ago, saying he "didn't want to tour again" because he wanted more control over his time.

"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,'" he recalled while speaking to The Times. "I love to play, I love to travel, but the trade-off is sacrificing your freedom. I have a wife (actress Anita Dobson), grandchildren and a lot of astrophysics I want to do, so I'm thinking maybe 50 years is enough."

May and fellow Queen member Roger Taylor have taken the band on the road with Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert on vocals since 2005, following the death of Freddie Mercury. Their partnership with Lambert began in 2011, and their most recent tour ended in February 2024.

Later in 2024, May experienced a "minor stroke" that briefly left him unable to move his left arm. He has now fully recovered.

Although worldwide touring is off the agenda, May and Taylor remain interested in finding a different way to bring Queen’s music to a live audience.

"We do want to do something fairly revolutionary. Not as ABBA did, but along those lines," Taylor explained, referencing the group’s virtual Voyage production in London.

"Last year I went to the Sphere (in Las Vegas), my juices started flowing and I sketched out a whole Queen show," May continued. "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."