Queen

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Brian May playing guitar with a backdrop of amps

“What you guys probably didn't know was that was the first time I've touched that guitar for two months”: Brian May is back on stage following a recent minor stroke

By Janelle Borg published 8 October 24

May attended the Red Special Convention in the UK, and treated attendees to a special performance on his trusty guitar

A montage of Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, Brian May and Tony Iommi playing guitar

“The Allman Brothers were unbelievable. When Duane came to the studio to play on Layla, I was so taken with him that I started ignoring my own band”: How the 1970s became the greatest decade for rock guitar

By Brad Tolinski published 2 October 24

As big beasts like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple dominated the era, players such as Steve Howe and Brian May transformed the landscape and the guitar hero cult grew, producing its GOAT by the dawn of the ‘80s

Jamie Moses and Brian May playing on stage

“I could see Brian was thinking about something, and he said, ‘How would you feel about using one of my Brian May guitars?’” Queen’s second guitarist, Jamie Moses, on how Brian May convinced him to switch from a Strat to a Red Special

By Janelle Borg published 27 September 24

Jamie Moses toured with Queen for 11 years, and switched up his rig to perform alongside May – and even inspired a new modification for the iconic guitar

Brian May playing live onstage with Queen + Adam Lambert

“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

Brian May plays onstage with his Red Special

“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

Left - Brian May of Queen performs at Chase Center on November 08, 2023 in San Francisco, California;Right - Dexter Holland of The Offspring performs live on stage during day on of Lollapalooza Brazil at Autodromo de Interlagos on March 22, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil

“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

Jean-Michel Jarre on the left, and Brian May with his signature red guitar on the right, performing on stage

“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

Freddie Mercury (1946 - 1991) and musician John Deacon of British rock band Queen in concert, 1980.

“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

Jimmy Page, Brian May and Tony Iommi pose for photographs at the opening of the Gibson Garage London

“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

Brian May and David Bowie, in 1980 and 1982 respectively

“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 Set Brian May Limited Edition

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

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