Queen lead guitarist Brian May announced the release of remastered video of ‘Driven By You’ which belonged to his legendary solo album ‘Back to the Light’ on his official Instagram account. He also revealed the backstory of the song and paid tribute to the great legends behind it.
Brian May has recently announced the release of ‘Back to the Light’ reissue which he originally released on September 28, 1992, as his first solo studio album. The album received very positive reviews and one of its singles ‘Driven by You’ reached the top ten on the charts of the US, the UK, Portugal, and the Netherlands. The reissue of the iconic album will be released on August 6, 2021.
In addition to working on the reissues of his classics, Brian May decided to edit the old concert footage and videos to create new official videos of his iconic songs. He started with ‘Driven By You’ and the video consisted of previous videos of the song and the footage of May’s performance in 1992. In the video, May paid tribute to the legendary musicians he collaborated with during his solo performance.
In his recent Instagram posts, Brian May thanked his beloved friends Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Rick Wakeman, Steve Vai, Maggie Ryder, Miriam Stockley, and Chris Thompson for their great contributions while he was sharing his feelings about ‘Driven By You.’ He stated that both the production process and live stage performance of the song were unforgettable adventures.
May’s Instagram post was written like that:
“‘Driven By You’ – brand new video edit 2021.
Hey folks. I wanted to make sure you all got the chance to see and hear this new video in its best form. I think some of you found it confusing, looking for the Youtube version. I did too! So here it is in Sideways IGTV format with stereophonic sound (come up close !) I spent a good 9 hours on a beautiful sunny day, locked in a dark edit suite, working with the great Simon Lupton on this new production – which we generated from two old videos and some raw live footage from 1992!
We began by comparing the shots that had been chosen from the original video edits – by putting them side by side in two boxes. Then we found we enjoyed looking at the material that way so much we decided to actually use some of that in the final cut. And some of it tantalizingly generated some stereoscopic content if we let it, due to small offsets in the synch.
In the video you see lots of dear pals of mine, to whom I owe so much… the late great Cozy Powell is on drums – one of the most magnificent rock drummers of all time and a dear friend who supported my first shaky steps into a solo career with his whole heart. I’ve dedicated the reissue of the ‘Back to the Light’ to Cozy, and my debt is eternal.
Then you see the legend that is Neil Murray – sometime bass player of Whitesnake, Sabbath, and many other great hard rock bands – and a pillar of strength in the original production of ‘We Will Rock You’ in the Dominion London. Neil was in all the incarnations of the Brian May Band, which is what you see here and remains a great friend. There are two performances here – one in Seville for the Guitar Legends Festival, and one solo show in Rio.
In Seville, I was joined by surely the greatest ever Rock Keys man – Rick Wakeman – seen here playing with his fingers what I could only do with a sequencer on the record! Wonderful man-animal rescuer and activist – most treasured friend. Then for this song, Space Age’s genius guitarist Steve Vai stepped in to play rhythm for me! An honor I can scarcely believe. Steve has been a close friend to me through all sorts of times – and remains an extraordinary exponent of the electric guitar – taking it to new places every day.”
In his next post, May went on:
“Following on from my last post – the new video for ‘Driven By You’ – I ran out of text room! Only for those who are interested in back-story detail. My backing singers in this period of my life were great too. On the left, as you see them … first the lovely Maggie Ryder – herself a great solo artist and songwriter too- she co-wrote ‘You’re the Voice’ – which became a huge hit for John Farnham (yes – I was honored to play the song with him last time in Australia at the unforgettable Fire Fight Concert).
Next – in the middle – the acclaimed Miriam Stockley – from South Africa – also a solo artist in her own right and a writer. In the right – yes – Chris Thompson – of Manfred Mann fame – a man with a truly extraordinary set of pipes – who coached me on breathing and developing my range while we were on tour. Chris also had a big hand in writing ‘You’re the Voice’ and sings it to devastating effect.
Who else can you spot in the video … in black and white, fleetingly, you can see my dear Tech Man Brian Zellis – aka ‘Jobby’ at the time – my devoted Guitar tech, who ran my guitar and me for many years towards the end of the Queen glory days and remains a trusted and precious friend. Nice to see him here – on a stage in Rio in soundcheck. You can also see some great fans who greeted me on our arrival in Brazil … I wonder if any of you guys can see this –
I hope you’re still ok. Let me know! I’m pretty sure one of those boys in that car crazily following us gave me an Indian Chief pendant which I still wear to this day. But that might have been in Argentina … and you can catch a couple of glimpses of our one and only Spike Edney – who also stuck by me in the Brian May Band all through that era – and of course, has become a pillar of the QAL live act.
What else can you see in the video? Steve Ferrone? The legendary cohort of Eric Clapton, he was my other great find for the Seville show – and later also took over on a ‘cocktail’ drum kit for some of my more acoustic adventures. And … Something else.”
You can check out the photo and watch the video below.
