Queen guitarist Brian May has shared a health update with fans, revealing that he recently suffered a stroke which left him without control of one arm.
The musician took to social media to share news of the health scare with fans, confirming that he is also on the road to recovery.
“I’m here to bring you first of all some news, I think. The good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days,” he began. “I say this because I was in some doubt, because a little health hiccup happened about a week ago. What they called it was a ‘minor stroke’.”
May went on to recall how the incident came on “all of a sudden, out of the blue”, and left him without any control over one of his arms. “It was a little scary. I had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital; blue lights flashing the lot, very exciting.”
He continued, explaining why he waited until he was further down the line with his recovery before he shared the update with fans. “I didn’t wanna say anything at the time because I didn’t want anything surrounding it, I really don’t want sympathy. Please don’t do that, because it’ll clutter up my inbox, and I hate that. The good news is I’m OK.”
While he seems to be doing much better, he did reveal that he is being made to avoid numerous day-to-day things until he is fully recovered.
“I’m ok and doing what I’m told, which is basically nothing,” May said. “I’m grounded, I’m not allowed to go out, drive, get on a plane, I’m not allowed to raise the heart rate too high. But I am good.”
Details haven’t yet been shared regarding when the guitarist is expected to make a full recovery, and it isn’t yet clear if the issues he felt with his arm will have a long-term impact on his guitar playing.
Earlier this year, Queen wrapped up a run of tour dates across Japan with Adam Lambert as frontman. They currently do not have any other dates scheduled, meaning that the guitarist will have plenty of time to make a full recovery.
This isn’t the first time that May has made headlines after health issues. Back in 2020, the guitarist was admitted to hospital after suffering a heart attack caused by an arterial disease.
“It’s a long climb back. I’ve had complications due to the drugs I’m on, one of which was a stomach explosion that nearly killed me,” he told The Times, going on to recall how the health scare caught him off-guard.
“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t have high cholesterol and I was exercising through the tour, so why did it happen? At least I now have a heart that is working far better than it was.”
Since wrapping up the tour with Queen, the guitarist took part in a one-off documentary for BBC, shedding light on the UK’s badger cull policies.
The post Queen’s Brian May shares health update after suffering stroke appeared first on NME.
