Brian May recently joined an interview with The Guardian, during which he answered some fan questions. When asked which band he would want to be in if Queen didn’t exist, the guitarist said:
“The Beatles, probably. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been easy to be a Beatle, but that incredible level of creativity, I would relate to.”
While explaining the reason behind this thought, he talked about the 2021 docuseries telling The Beatles’ story:
“I watched a lot of ‘Get Back.’ I got a bit sad watching the first one because it reminded me of us – sometimes Queen in the studio would be [inhales nervously], ‘Here we are, and things aren’t quite fitting.’ I felt they were in quite a painful place – but the second one, I felt like they were really finding each other again. It’s a textbook of how to be in a studio.”
May also mentioned another possible choice by saying:
“If it wasn’t the Beatles, it could’ve been Led Zeppelin. If they let me in.”
Back in January, the Queen founder told Total Guitar that Zeppelin had an influence on his band. He noted that, with Jimmy Page and John Bonham’s parts, ‘Black Dog’ played a role in the creation of ‘Now I’m Here.’
Then, the guitarist revealed that Led Zeppelin’s impact on Queen went beyond musical matters:
“Those guys were not far ahead of us in age, but the first time we heard Zeppelin, we thought, ‘Oh, my God, this is where we’re trying to get to, and they’re already there!'”
Referring to the difference between the two bands, he added:
“So, in a sense, there were times when we felt like we’d missed the boat. Like we wouldn’t be able to get our stuff out there. But our vision was slightly different from Zeppelin, musically.”
You can listen to Queen’s ‘Now I’m Here’ below and take a look at Brian May’s recent interview here.
