During an interview, Queen guitarist Brian May spoke about his favorite Queen album. He also commented on the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991 and the subsequent work on the final Queen album “Made in Heaven”.
May has suffered from depression for years
Brian May suffered a heart attack in 2020 and contracted COVID-19 a year later. In this context, the guitarist explains in the “How do you cope?” podcast why he has repeatedly commented on his state of health in the past:
“I like being open. When I have a problem in life, I think it’s good to share it with the world because then other people don’t feel like they are alone when they have a similar problem.” May also admitted that he’s struggled with depression for years and says it’s part of your makeup. However, May only sought professional help from a therapist after the second album “Queen II” when he was 26 years old.
“Made in Haven” was a heart project
In addition, the guitarist gave insights into the difficult work on the last Queen album “Made in Heaven”, which was completed and released in 1995 four years after Freddie Mercury’s death:
“It was very strange. It was traumatizing in itself. I’ve spent hours, days and weeks working on small parts of Freddie’s vocals. I listened to Freddie all day and all night. I had moments where I was like, ‘That’s great… That sounds great Fre… Oh, you’re not here,'” May recalled.
“It was quite difficult,” May continues, “sometimes you had to go away, recover and come back. But I felt this immense pride and joy in squeezing the last drops out of what Freddie left us.” In the end, May’s efforts paid off, as he emphasizes: “I still love this album. I think it’s my favorite Queen album. There are things in there that are so profound. There’s pure gold in there.”