Brian May Confirms Queen Will Never Tour Again

Queen guitarist Brian May has confirmed, in an interview with The Times, that the band's touring days are over. May said he and drummer Roger Taylor made the call 18 months ago, prompted by the death of a close family friend while May was on the road — a moment that forced him to confront how unsustainable long-haul touring had become. His summary: "50 years is enough."

How the decision came together

As recounted by Far Out Magazine's writeup of the interview, May was in the United States at the time and asked his tour manager if he could fly home for a few days and return. He was told, flatly, that it wasn't possible. That exchange, May said, forced him to reckon with what touring was costing him outside the band.

"I love playing, and I love travelling, but the price is your freedom," May said. He pointed to his wife, actress Anita Dobson, his grandchildren, and unfinished work in astrophysics as reasons pulling him away from the road.

What Queen has actually done since

Queen's last appearance under its own name was the 2022 tribute concert for the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Since then, May has performed as Queen + Adam Lambert, a lineup that wrapped its most recent run, The Rhapsody Tour, in Japan in February 2024. In recent years, both May and Taylor have focused mainly on solo projects rather than Queen itself.

The hologram show that won't happen

May had previously floated the idea of a Queen hologram show, inspired by the box-office success of ABBA Voyage in London. In the same interview, he said he's dropped the idea — his reasoning being that it couldn't be done without heavy use of AI, and he isn't willing to accept what that would require.

May also used the interview to address AI more broadly, appealing directly to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to block what he called "evil" AI data centers before it's "too late."