Queen rocker Sir Brian May, 79, was questioned about the future of the band after he and Roger Taylor, 77, have been focusing on their own projects in recent years, including Taylor’s solo album, Violence Insane in a Beautiful World and May debuting his own brand of gin. In response, the guitarist announced that Queen will not go on tour again, after a heartbreaking loss put things into perspective for him. Sir Brian last toured with Queen + Adam Lambert on The Rhapsody Tour, which ended in Japan on February 14, 2024.
Opening up about the decision, he told The Times in an interview alongside his bandmate: “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 added: “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.”
However, Queen drummer Roger hinted that there may be something else in the works for fans who want to experience the band’s iconic music, and performances from its late lead singer Freddie Mercury.
Making a comparison to ABBA Voyage, a virtual concert with digital avatars of the Swedish pop group, Roger shared: “We do want to do something fairly revolutionary. Not as Abba did, but along those lines.”
There is a roadblock to the plans though, as both Roger and Brian are wary about relying on AI to create the experience.
He continued: “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 agrees, and has previously expressed his concern about AI and its environmental impact through 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.”
