Brian May has ruled out the prospect of touring with Queen again.
The guitarist stated this in a recent interview with The Times newspaper, having decided last year that his time on the road was up, and that he was ready for more "freedom" and to spend more time with his wife, Anita Dobson and their extended family.
On the prospect of touring with Queen in the future, May said: “I made a decision 18 months ago that I didn’t want to tour again".
He continued: “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. I have a wife, grandchildren and a lot of astrophysics I want to do, so I’m thinking maybe 50 years is enough".
However, fans should not get too downhearted, as remaining Queen bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor are said to be looking into creating an "immersive experience", even though Brian has "serious misgivings" about any role that AI would play in this project.
“We do want to do something fairly revolutionary. Not as ABBA did, but along those lines", Rogers said.
Brian May also commented: “Last year I went to the Sphere [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...", he added. "It’s trashing our future. We all like AI. It helps us write emails. It’s even saved a few lives. But the harm it is bringing to the world is immense".
Last month, Roger Taylor had said that he and May had been looking into new possibilities for the band, including a new avatar Voyage show inspired by ABBA. More on this here.
Last year, Queen celebrated their 40th anniversary, with Brian May saying was a "bittersweet" experience without the late frontman, Freddie Mercury, who passed away in 1991.
“We don’t have Freddie anymore, but in a sense, he’s still with us, because every day we refer to him and think about him, you wonder what he would be thinking" May said. “This is special. Of course, it was very much Freddie’s day. He shone, he just became interstellar at that moment".
“Yes, it is bittersweet, but mainly sweet because this is good vibes in a world which seems to be going off into a terrible place and becoming more and more selfish and more corrupt, more cruel", he added. “This is important to emphasise, this wonderful endeavour to feed the world".
“You know, it’s still there. Still needs doing".
