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Brian May: Freddie Mercury’s death plunged him into depression
A ROLLING STONE archive classic from 2021.
On the occasion of the reissue of his solo debut “Back To The Light”, Brian May spoke about the darkest phase of his career: depression. Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991 plunged the guitarist into a deep hole. “I felt like my life was over too.”
When Mercury succumbed to complications from AIDS in November 1991, it was the second stroke of fate that year for Queen guitarist Brian May. “Around the same time I lost my father to cancer,” says May in an interview with “Guardians”. “Plus, my marriage fell apart because I fell in love with another woman. I felt like I was losing my children too – like I was losing everything.”
All of this plunged May into a phase of deep depression: “I was very close to driving off the bridge a few times,” says May, “Hammersmith Bridge. Today you can’t drive over there at all.”
Music as therapy
It was only through working on his debut album that the guitarist finally found a way out of grief: “Music was the only thing I could hold on to – almost like therapy.” These raw emotions also made it onto the record. “What you hear on the album is me desperately reaching for something that will take me back to the light.”
Since 2012, Brian May and Roger Taylor have performed together with singer Adam Lambert as Queen + Adam Lambert. In 2017, May released “Golden Days,” a studio album with musical actress Kerry Ellis, who had already worked with May on the Queen musical “We Will Rock You.” The new edition of his solo debut “Back To The Light” will be released on August 6th, 2021.
