Brian May On Queen’s ‘Punishing’ Tour Schedule, ‘Worth It’

Queen guitarist Brian May recently took to his Instagram to reveal his thoughts on the band’s latest live shows. According to May, their touring schedule is punishing, but it’s worth it after the magical moments with their audience.

In August 1986, Freddie Mercury shared the same stage with Queen for the last time at Knebworth, England. On November 24, 1991, the music icon passed away due to a complication of AIDS, bronchopneumonia. After Mercury’s passing, the remaining members, Brian May and Roger Taylor began touring as Queen with Paul Rodgers and later as Queen + Adam Lambert.

With Adam Lambert, the British legends performed on various tours and visited different parts of the world. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, they couldn’t tour for almost two years. The band embarked on the North American leg of The Rhapsody Tour in July 2019 but had to postpone further dates due to the pandemic restrictions.

Currently, Queen is back on the road for The Rhapsody Tour, with Freddie Mercury’s visual presence accompanying them. Between 14 and 21 June, they had shows scheduled at London’s O2 Arena, and Brian May got highly emotional during one of those performances due to touching old footage of Mercury on the screen behind him.

In a recent Instagram post, May shared a video of himself wearing a straw hat and enjoying some time to relax. However, he argued that they rarely have this opportunity because Queen has a punishing schedule. According to May, he realized it was worth it after their performances in O2, where he had a wonderful experience playing harmonically with the crowd.

Brian May’s Instagram post read:

“A moment of reflection. Why the hat? Having had a couple of skirmishes with skin invaders, I’m taking protection from the sun much more seriously now. I hope you’re all taking care of yourselves out there. Sunscreen! Don’t take chances! Factor 50! Cheers! Who’s rockin’ with us tonight? Bri.”

Here is what May said in the video:

“Hey folks, howdy? It’s Brian, grabbing a moment to relax because we don’t get much time off at the moment. It’s a punishing schedule, but oh my god, it’s worth it for a night like last night. Back in the O2, what an incredible, incredible audience you guys were. I had a rare moment just standing out there in ‘Champions,’ looking around and realizing Adam was letting you guys sing, and I’m playing, and I’m watching all those hands in the air, hearing your voices.

I just thought, ‘Whoever gets the privilege of this wonderful moment?’ Incredible, and I’m never going to take it for granted. Especially having a couple of years when it wasn’t possible. So thank you for keeping coming, holding your tickets, and giving us such a wonderful, wonderful experience in terms of feedback. God bless you all! and I’m going to see some of you tonight; I’m off for the minute.”

During one of their recent shows at O2 Arena, Brian May shed a few tears after performing the Queen song ‘Love Of My Life’ with Freddie Mercury’s visual appearance beside him. This was an emotional moment for the fans and the guitarist, as it has been years since the two shared the stage.