Brian May Quotes & Sayings

In print, people can do anything to you. Everything you do is picked apart. People love it; they're waiting for you to make a mistake. — Brian May

There's nothing I'm embarrassed about. — Brian May

Sanctions always hurt the poor, the weak, the children. — Brian May

There are times when I've been feeling something and played a solo that I've never been able to repeat. — Brian May

I think a lot of people would be better off in America, where at least you would find some radio station somewhere that would play you. — Brian May

When we were touring heavily in America, we based ourselves there for a couple of years, but now we're all back here and it seems to be the place. — Brian May

What is left of your dream?
Just the words on your stone.
A man who learned how to teach
then forgot how to learn. — Brian May

I have to build my own boat this time. It's a big sea out there, and I have a pretty small boat. I have a lot of belief in it. — Brian May

What we were trying to do differently was this sort of layered sound. — Brian May

George Harrison was a fabulous, fabulous, fabulous guitarist, and a wonderful example of what a rock star should be. I totally revered him as an innovator. He was always fresh, daring, magnificently melodic, full of spiritual quality, and totally conscious of the chord structure beneath the solo. And he had the courage to play simple. He never took refuge in effects, or tried to impress with speed. I hope he knew how much we all loved and respected him. — Brian May

I'm a much better musician than astronomer. I think the world got the right choice. — Brian May

I was an incurable romantic then, same as I am now. I was always pining away after somebody — Brian May

I think the popular view of Science is a solid body of truth, shared by a whole lot of learned men in a room, all agreeing on the answers to the questions of how the Universe works. Whereas nothing could be further from the truth!!! The one truth that I see emerging from the History of Science is that experiment has always surprised theorists. Einstein included! — Brian May

I tend to be not a person who does everything right all the time. — Brian May

I'd put a lot of work into playing guitar, and was thinking I was pretty damn good. But Hendrix came along and destroyed everyone. — Brian May

At the moment the Queen stuff does sell really well, but there's no guarantee it'll go on forever. — Brian May

Astronomy's much more fun when you're not an astronomer. — Brian May

I'm into paradoxes. I wanted to make an album about them, but the group told me I was a pretentious fart. They were right. — Brian May

Doing Made In Heaven was like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, but I wouldn't have put my seal of approval on it if I hadn't thought it was up to standard. — Brian May

We wouldn't have put it out with the name Queen on it if we didn't think it was musically up to scratch. — Brian May

It's wonderful for me to see what 'We Will Rock You' has done. 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are the Champions' have kind of transcended the normal framework of where music is listened to and appreciated - they've become part of public life, which I feel wonderful about. — Brian May

I've always lived in that guitar world. I have noticed kids being more into the real essence of guitar music now. — Brian May

I don't surf the net in general. I have someone do it for me instead, because I find it sluggish. — Brian May

I never took sheet music seriously. I could do better myself just by listening to other people and using my own intuition. — Brian May

I had this big thing about guitar harmonies. I wanted to be the first to put proper three-part harmonies onto a record. That was an achievement. — Brian May

The guitar has a kind of grit and excitement possessed by nothing else. — Brian May

I had this idea ... I wanted the sound to sing and have that thickness but yet still have an edge so that it could articulate. So my dad and I designed the guitar ... the one that was made from an old fireplace. — Brian May

I think Queen tribute bands are great. However, we have to keep them at arm's length, otherwise it could be too dangerous. — Brian May

The Wedding March has a bit of a death march in it. — Brian May

Not for a million - years. I mean, I like the INXS boys, but I found the process very degrading, really. Reality television has eaten away at our standards of excellence. I don't like this whole culture, which has evolved, of TV being the king. — Brian May

I think Hammer's very cool: he has a great voice and great presence. — Brian May

I'm the nice guy who sits there signing everything that's put in front of me. — Brian May

This man (FreddieMercury) truly possessed the greatest voice in the history of rock. Journalists, culture experts and analysts have already made several hundred comments on this topic and nothing can be added here. — Brian May

A Queen track has those big, thick, block harmonies. — Brian May

I spent 20 years of my life building up Queen, and now I'm spending years of my life trying to get away from it. — Brian May

Queen had its time and place, and at the moment I'm not concentrating on that era. — Brian May

Queen songs are not about the life of a rock star - they tend to be about the lives of normal people, which is why I think the songs connect so much. We're very lucky that they seemingly connect with every generation. — Brian May

The music itself is very challenging, so I've never really felt the lack of stimulation. I love to be creating; I love to be making things and solving problems, I suppose, and when I'm not, then I'm not an incredibly good person to be around. If I'm not busy, then I think I would be disaster. That's just the way things are. — Brian May

I really thought I was pretty good before I saw Hendrix, and then I thought: Yeah, not so good. — Brian May

I was actually perfectly happy when I had no money, which lasted right up until we had a hit with Killer Queen, in 1974. I never wanted for anything. — Brian May

My mum says I wanted to be a surgeon, but I don't remember that. I think from the time I knew what was happening, I wanted to be a guitar player. — Brian May

You want to go in the steam bath to get your vocals sounding well, but you don't want your fingers to get soft. — Brian May

The guitar was my weapon, my shield to hide behind. — Brian May

I'm pretty basic as far as technique is concerned. I don't use many gadgets, and I like the sound my guitar makes, anyway. — Brian May

For a time I didn't want to answer any questions about Queen. I'd like to be viewed as something alive and relevant, not some fossil. — Brian May

A good video can make all the difference — Brian May

From the beginning of Queen there was such momentum that I never had any time to do anything else. My energy was 95% focused on the band. — Brian May

Everybody thought I was a bit of an eccentric for wanting to be out there looking at the stars, but I still do. — Brian May

I like to go for a walk or swimming or in the garden when I can. It's a busy kind of life, but I guess I'm lucky. — Brian May

We've done an arrangement with an orchestra, but I think the best stuff tends to come when it's just the four of us. — Brian May

I just want to be able to play as fast as my brain goes, and my brain doesn't go all that fast. — Brian May

If I go to places where other people are playing, I often get up and play myself. I just enjoy the sound and feel of playing. — Brian May

I despise the Lottery. There's less chance of you becoming a millionaire than there is of getting hit on the head by a passing asteroid. — Brian May

There is no way that you can ever really repeat something. I have this great belief that the magic of the moment can never be recaptured. — Brian May

Every time I listen to Jeff Beck my whole view of guitar changes radically. He's way, way out, doing things you never expect. — Brian May

People have been rumouring that Queen are going to split up for the last eight years at least. I've got some great cuttings at home from people saying 'One thing is certain, Queen will no longer exist in a year's time.' And that was in 1973. — Brian May

I'm not a person for sitting on beaches. What would I do? — Brian May

I tend not to write on guitar very often. I tend to start off with keyboards. — Brian May

Amazing uke playing to be relished. — Brian May

We do play to our audience. It's very important. You can't create music in a vacuum. — Brian May

There are times when I flick through magazines and think I'm in danger of becoming a prisoner of my own hair. — Brian May

It's the most spiritually empowering thing I know, to look up at the night sky and see Orion rising as the autumn closes in at the last moment, and it's got me through some very hard times. When I had a couple of serious bouts of depression in my life the stars were a big factor in pulling me out. People used to say "What's your spirituality?", and I'd say I don't know, but I found out looking at the stars last night and that's what it was. — Brian May

Queen songs tend to be about very personal things: personal dreams and personal ambitions. — Brian May

I go through major crises every few months, but then I have great peaks of belief and creativity. I'm a weird kind of animal. — Brian May

To my mind Keep Yourself Alive was never really satisfactory. Never had that magic that it should have had. — Brian May

My big hobby is photography. I collect stereo photographs from the 19th century. — Brian May

Sometimes if the guitar is the last thing to go on, it's very fresh. — Brian May

On the first few albums the songs would grow into strange shapes. — Brian May

Einstein got most of the things right about black holes. I'm not an expert, I must admit. — Brian May

The potential audience seems to be dwindling in the states. I was kind of embarrassed for the band because of the size of the audience. — Brian May

I'm hopeless at playing scales. Try and be instinctive first and analytic afterwords, although it's good to study the theory of music. — Brian May

The first nine albums there was never a Synthesiser, never any Orchestra. There was never any other player except us on the albums. — Brian May

Mantovani was a great influence on me. — Brian May

Each gig should be unique. You're always treading that line between keeping yourself fresh and giving people something they want to hear. — Brian May

I don't think anybody comes close to The Beatles, including Oasis. — Brian May

When I'm gone, people will no doubt remember me for Queen, but I would much rather be remembered for attempting to change the way we treat our fellow creatures — Brian May

My children hate me being such a big star. It's very hard for them to have a father who is always in the public eye. — Brian May

There are a lot of things in Queen albums that you don't expect; that's why we threw them in. — Brian May

The biggest emotion in creation is the bridge to optimism. — Brian May

I think music is about our internal life. It's part of the way people touch each other. That's very precious to me. And astronomy is, in a sense, the very opposite thing. Instead of looking inwards, you are looking out, to things beyond our grasp. — Brian May