Brian May feared he’d never play guitar again after stroke: “It went through my mind… I had no idea what was going on”

Brian May feared he’d never play guitar again after stroke: “It went through my mind… I had no idea what was going on”

Queen’s Brian May worried he wouldn’t be able to play guitar again following a stroke that caused him to lose control of his arm.
May suffered the stroke in August last year, and publicly shared the news in September via his YouTube channel. Thankfully, he recovered and gained control of his arm again, though he did wonder at the time what his future as a guitarist would look like.

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Speaking to Guitarist for its new print issue, May says, “It went through my mind. When I suddenly couldn’t control this left arm, it was quite scary. I had no idea what was going on. I phoned my doctor and she said, ‘Okay, I think you’re having a minor stroke. Dial 999, get in the ambulance and I’ll see you there.’ But even at the worst time, although I couldn’t control where the arm was, I could control my fingers. So I thought, ‘I’m probably not really in danger.’ I’m all right now. I’m just taking it slow.”
After May’s stroke, he made his first public appearance to play guitar again at the Red Special Guitar Meet-Up in Reading, UK, back in October. The event celebrated the 60th anniversary of his iconic guitar, which May built with his father as a teenager. He still remains healthy and stable.
In January, May’s wife – actress Anita Dobson – told The Sun that the pair are “taking each day as it comes” after the health scare: “It makes you realise that at any minute it could be you,” she said. “You don’t have to necessarily be old, it could be anyone. You think you are fit, you see these people who run marathons and then at a young age they are gone.”

The post Brian May feared he’d never play guitar again after stroke: “It went through my mind… I had no idea what was going on” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

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