Brian May opened up about his late bandmate Freddie Mercury during a new interview with Guitar World.
In May’s words, Freddie was always there to clear up any doubts with his enthusiasm and confidence. He explained:
“In many cases, I’d say, ‘Oh, yes, yes, yes, I can do this, darling. Just give me a chance; just put me in there, and I’ll do this.’ [Freddie] was always very upfront; he had an amazing amount of drive, optimism and energy. He was very helpful with my insecurities – and he kind of chose me as his guitarist in the early days.”
May added saying he was like Jimi Hendrix in his own mind:
“Even when Freddie was nothing and nobody, he was Jimi Hendrix in his mind. And I enabled him to have that at his fingertips. He always said, ‘You can do anything anyone can do, Brian. You can do this for me.’ That sounds like I’m making him out as big-headed, but he wasn’t; it was just this enthusiasm of, ‘We can do this together. We can be the best thing in the world.’”
May Thought Queen Would Be Over
When the singer died, Queen had been together for 21 years. May faced the reality that his career might be over. He realized that many musicians from big bands have solo careers that don’t go anywhere, and that could have been his fate too. However, the band continues their legacy with Adam Lambert as their new singer today.
May said of the band’s career after Freddie’s passing:
“I was completely convinced it was over. I remember driving past all these arenas that we used to play and thinking: ‘That’s gone. I’ll never do that again.’”
He added:
“[I felt like] just a very small person again. I was making my music, but I thought Queen was over and dead and gone for ever.”
Freddie’s Secret Talent
In another interview, May shared a surprising detail about the band’s songwriting process. When asked about the end section of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ May revealed that it was mostly Freddie Mercury’s idea. May also explained that though Freddie was known for his piano skills, he also had a talent for creating heavy riffs:
“But it’s funny – Freddie was a good riffmeister, really! That riff for ‘Ogre Battle’ [from 1974’s ‘Queen II’], a lot of people think that’s mine, but that came out of Freddie’s head. So he had very good ‘heavy’ sensibilities. 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, too.”
You can hear the song Freddie created himself down below.