Queen’s Brian May reveals that he has tested positive for COVID-19: ‘It has been a truly horrible few days’
- May, 74, shared on Instagram that he tested positive with a photo of his test
- The guitarist said he had had a ‘truly horrible few days’
- He expressed optimism that the worst was behind him: ‘I will tell the tale’
- May called Eric Clapton and other anti-vaxxers ‘fruitcakes’ earlier this year
- He previously suffered a serious heart attack in May 2020
Queen guitarist Brian May announced Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
The 74-year-old musician and songwriter shared the news in an Instagram post featuring photos of his positive test result.
‘Yep. The shocking day finally came for me. The dreaded double red line,’ he began his post.
Health scare: Queen guitarist Brian May, 74, announced Saturday on Instagram that he had tested positive for COVID-19; picture in January 2020 in Seoul, South Korea
May included a closeup of what appeared to be a self-administered rapid antigen test.
He urged his fans not to bother with ‘sympathy,’ as his condition seemed to be on the upswing.
‘It has been a truly horrible few days, but I’m OK. And I will tell the tale,’ he continued.
The musician urged his followers and fans to ‘PLEASE take extra care out there, good folks,’ as the novel coronavirus was ‘incredibly transmissible.’
‘You really do NOT want it messing up YOUR Christmas,’ he concluded, before signing off and wish his fans ‘love.’
On the mend? ‘It has been a truly horrible few days, but I’m OK. And I will tell the tale,’ May wrote, suggesting he was on the upswing
Safety first: The musician urged his followers and fans to ‘PLEASE take extra care out there, good folks,’ as the novel coronavirus was ‘ incredibly transmissible’
May has previously been vocal about his contempt for fellow guitarist Eric Clapton after he expressed anti-vaccine views and vowed not to perform in venues that require proof of vaccination against COVID-19.
‘I love Eric Clapton, he’s my hero, but he has very different views from me in many ways,’ May told The Independent in August. ‘He’s a person who thinks it’s OK to shoot animals for fun, so we have our disagreements, but I would never stop respecting the man.’
He then defended the science on the value of vaccinations and described vaccine conspiracy theorists as ‘fruitcakes.’
‘Anti-vax people, I’m sorry, I think they’re fruitcakes,’ he said. ‘There’s plenty of evidence to show that vaccination helps. On the whole, they’ve been very safe. There’s always going to be some side effect in any drug you take, but to go around saying vaccines are a plot to kill you, I’m sorry, that goes in the fruitcake jar for me.’
Frenemies: The Queen guitarist told The Independent in August that Eric Clapton (pictured in 2020) and other anti-vaxxers are ‘fruitcakes’; Clapton seen in March 2020 in London
Safe and effective: May went on to defend the science behind vaccines. ‘On the whole, they’ve been very safe,’ he said; pictured in February 2020 in Sydney, Australia
May’s positive test comes amid a rise in coronavirus cases in the UK as the Omicron variant continues to grow in prominence.
At least 90,418 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, and more that 513,000 people have tested positive over the past week, a more than 44 percent increase over the previous week.
The guitarist is best known for his blistering solos and lead lines with the band Queen, which featured the late Freddie Mercury on vocals, Roger May on drums and John Deacon on bass.
The band experienced a renewed wave of popularity following the 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody, which earned Rami Malek an Academy Award for his portrayal of Mercury.
Health troubles: May suffered a heart attack earlier this year, which he said could have killed him. He later suffered a stomach hemorrhage from his heart medications, though he has since said he’s doing well; pictured with Adam Lambert in 2019
In October 2020, May told Good Morning Britain ‘I nearly lost my life’ after he suffered a heart attack back in May, which required stents to be inserted to open blocked arteries.
He also admitted that he’d suffered a stomach hemorrhage, apparently as a result of the medications he was taking for his heart.
‘It was pretty bad, and the complications that came afterwards were pretty bad,’ he shared.
But the rocker added that he was focused on ‘cardio rehab’ now and said he was feeling much better.
‘I’m getting strong. I’m going to be Ironman soon,’ he joked.
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