Queen's Brian May on Freddie Mercury's guitar skills, Bohemian Rhapsody actors and the most difficult song to play live

May with his iconic Red Special guitar, photographed at the launch party for the 2014 book, Brian May’s Red Special (Image credit: Paul Harmer)

Best of 2019: Even by most multi-taskers’ standards, Brian May puts everybody to shame. He’s not only one of most distinctive guitarists on the planet, but he also co-founded and composed songs for one of the world’s top-selling bands, Queen. As if all that weren’t enough, May somehow found a little time in his schedule to become an astrophysicist, of all things, having received his Ph.D. from London’s Imperial College in 2007.

All of which begs the question: Is there anything this guy’s crap at?

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.