“All of a sudden out of the blue I didn’t have any control of this arm”: Brian May recovering after suffering “minor stroke” By Matt Owen published 4 September 24 The Queen legend's ability to play guitar was in “some doubt” following the health scare
“Even when Freddie was nothing and nobody, he was Jimi Hendrix in his mind. And I enabled him to have that at his fingertips”: Brian May on his symbiotic songwriting relationship with Freddie Mercury – and the guitar innovations he never got credit for By Andrew Daly published 9 July 24 The Queen guitar legend shares memories and spills secrets in this epic interview, dishing on what form his Gibson-made guitar might take – and the unlikely tale behind his new collaboration with Steve Cropper and Billy Gibbons
“We have spoken about such things, and it would be lovely to have an edition of the Brian May guitar based in the States”: Brian May confirms Gibson-built Red Specials are on the cards By Matt Owen published 11 June 24 The Queen guitar icon was announced as a new member of the Gibson family earlier this year, and it sounds like the new partnership will lead to a meticulous Murphy Lab Red Special recreation
“I put this riff on it, which people are telling me is the birth of thrash metal or something”: Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy comes full circle with a live punk rendition by The Offspring and Brian May By Janelle Borg published 21 May 24 Brian May also joined The Offspring on stage and put his own spin on their 1997 hit Gone Away
“I felt very dissatisfied with what I came up with… self-doubt rears its scary head to the point where I wonder who the hell I think I am”: Brian May questioned his guitar abilities ahead of a “challenging” virtuosic collaboration with Jean-Michel Jarre By Janelle Borg published 14 May 24 The Queen guitarist publicly expressed how anxious he was before performing a brand new Jean-Michel Jarre set in front of a 100,000-strong audience
“When the bass comes back in it’s like a punch in the face. Nobody plays like that anymore”: Listen to John Deacon’s isolated bassline on Killer Queen By Chris Jisi published 13 April 24 John Deacon’s bass playing on Killer Queen is guaranteed to blow your mind
“It’s like Brian May walked over to his tone booth and just turned it up to 11!” Kirk Hammett names his favorite Queen song – and it’s a seriously deep cut By Jonathan Horsley published 20 March 24 Metallica may have covered Stone Cold Crazy, but that’s not Hammett’s no. 1…
“Freddie was a good riffmeister! He was a devotee of Jimi Hendrix. People think he was just concerned with the lighter stuff but it’s not true. He did enjoy the heavy stuff”: Brian May reveals the inside stories behind 13 classic Queen tracks By Chris Bird published 12 March 24 In a world-exclusive interview, Brian May takes you behind the scenes of the making of 13 iconic Queen cuts, and reveals what inspired his magical guitar playing in Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Don’t Stop Me Now and many more
“We are so proud to have him in our Gibson family. From a little band called Queen…” Brian May is now working with Gibson – but what does it mean for the Red Special? By Michael Astley-Brown published 22 February 24 The Queen legend accompanied his old friend Tony Iommi and Jimmy Page at the opening of the Gibson Garage London – and we have our theories as to why
“I still don’t find it easy! It’s one of the most unnatural riffs to play you could possibly imagine”: Brian May finds Bohemian Rhapsody difficult to perform – and he points the blame at “riffmeister” Freddie Mercury By Phil Weller published 21 February 24 The Queen guitarist has called it “the most unnatural riff to play” and says even now he has to battle with adrenaline when he plays it live
“It’s probably the only time in my career I bowed out, because I knew it was going to be a fight… most of that heavy guitar was lost”: Brian May says David Bowie removed his electric guitar riffs on Under Pressure – and he never liked the results By Matt Parker published 12 February 24 The Queen guitar legend says the song originally sounded more like a Who-style rocker, but Bowie had other ideas…
“We had to perform 700 songs in the space of five weeks, but we had to learn 1,200. I didn’t sleep for seven weeks”: Being a guitarist on TV is no walk in the park. Just ask The Voice and The Masked Singer six-stringer Dan Maher By Gregory Adams published 6 December 23 The seasoned session guitarist has played with Rita Ora and Adam Lambert, and tackled an impossible number of songs for Australia’s premier primetime TV shows. Maher explains what it’s like to accompany an avocado, why playing AC/DC made him more nervous than anything else, and that time he got a FaceTime call in the middle of a live show… and couldn‘t read his charts
“Billy Gibbons brought some off-brand amp simulator to the studio. We heard him playing through this thing and it was like, ‘Wow! It sounds like f**kin’ Billy Gibbons!’” Troy Van Leeuwen might have just proven beyond doubt that tone truly is in the hands By Matt Owen published 14 November 23 The Queens of the Stone Age guitarist recalls a studio visit from the ZZ Top icon, and in doing so provides yet more evidence in favor of the ‘tone is in the hands’ argument
Brian May Guitars seeks inspiration from the Barbie color chart to give the Special LE a high-Kenergy Hot Pink makeover By Jonathan Horsley published 25 September 23 It’s the Red Special as you’ve never seen it before – meet the Pink Special
Vox MV50-BM Brian May Limited Edition Set review: a tiny 50W Nutube head fit for Queen By Nick Guppy published 3 August 23 A signature version of Vox’s unique Nutube micro head that’s instant Queen at Wembley – and nearly as loud
Oddball studio experiments, going “full Spinal tap,” and “stinky riffs“: how Tigercub’s Jamie Hall is bringing bonkers guitar to the mainstream By Ellie Rogers published 5 July 23 Step inside the weird world of Tigercub, where no-name transistor amps, headphones used as microphones and abyssal drop-tuned riffs helped concoct their most recent album, The Perfume of Decay
Vox amPlug Brian May Special Edition Set review By Stuart Williams published 12 June 23 Vox’s mini headphone guitar amp gets a royal ascent, courtesy of the Queen guitar legend
11-year-old guitarist on Britain's Got Talent leaves Brian May in awe with Queen cover By Jackson Maxwell published 25 May 23 Wielding an Epiphone Les Paul, Harry Churchill took on a medley of Brian May's guitar parts from the Queen catalog, and put on a heck of a show while doing so
This week's essential guitar tracks: alt-rock heroes return and a virtual metal band team up with a thrash legend By Michael Astley-Brown, Jackson Maxwell, Matt Owen, Matt Parker published 12 May 23 Unmissable new cuts from Queens of the Stone Age, Nili Brosh, Alex Skolnick, Black Stone Cherry, Tash Sultana, Asking Alexandria and… Dolly Parton?!
The Darkness’s Frankie Poullain: “If you go too posh with distortion, it gets too precise and nice. It’s got to be a bit nasty and a bit wrong” By Joel McIver last updated 14 April 23 The world’s last great hard-rock band with an advanced sense of humor are back with new album Motorheart. Bassist Poullain brings the pick and the thumb...
