After you have a stroke, nobody expects you to be super productive afterwards. It takes a while to build those essential motor functions back up to speed. It drastically affects the brain in horrifying ways. Brian May, iconic guitarist for Freddie Mercury and Queen, thought this was the case when he suffered a stroke in September 2024.
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At the time, the 77 year old instrumentalist thought it was over for his musical career at that point. However, one thing gave him hope: he could still play the guitar. "I'm here to bring you some good news — the good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days," May says on Instagram. "I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago and what they called it was a minor stroke. It was a little scary, I have to say."
Queen Guitarist Brian May Shreds On The Guitar at Coachella After Stroke
To say he can play the guitar after all of that is an understatement. Recently, pop star Benson Boone performed at this year's Coachella festival. There, he takes the main stage and covers Freddie Mercury and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Consequently, he brings out the originator Brian May to shred on the guitar for the song's massive solo. What's even better is that he didn't look like he was lagging behind at all. Rather, he was all smiles, mobile and seamlessly strumming away on his guitar.
By the end of the song, Benson Boone hypes up the theatrics by jumping off a piano and over May while he's playing away. Then, he bows down and asks the audience to give the rocker a massive round of applause. Brian also gives Benson a huge cosign as an artist on Instagram. "Gonna treasure this moment on the plane with @bensonboone - a truly golden 22 year old prodigy. I'm proud and happy to say we are now officially pals," he writes in the caption.
