Sir Brian May has said he may tour again this year, having been knighted at Buckingham Palace by King Charles for services to music and charity.
The 75-year-old Queen guitarist is responsible for some of the biggest and best-known riffs and solos in popular music, on songs like We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody and One Vision.
The musician, astrophysicist and animal welfare advocate said: ‘I’m very happy, beaming from ear to ear, particularly as he was the King, which means a lot.’
And he said he can keep rocking in 2023 after the King presented him with his gong on Tuesday morning.
“We’re thinking of touring, I can say that,” he said. “I hope to stay in good health, right now I seem to be in pretty good health, which is always great.”
Sir Brian May, musician, songwriter and animal welfare campaigner, from Windlesham, is knighted a bachelor by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace
Sir Brian imagined shaking hands with the King, whom he was very happy to meet.
The honor recognizes his services to music and charity.
“It hasn’t been an easy road and there have been times when I thought I would never do it again.
“But we all seem fine, so we’re looking to do some touring and of course we tour at the highest level and it’s very high energy and very demanding on your fitness.”
“If we don’t get out until October or whatever, I’ll be working on my fitness from now on.”
Sir Brian, along with the late frontman Freddie Mercury, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor, scored numerous number one hits during Queen’s heyday as the band became one of the world’s greatest live touring acts.
After he was knighted by the King, he said: “We’ve had some contact over the years and we’re of an age, so I have a strong feeling for him and it was a lovely time.”
“We discussed the fact that we are of legal age and he wondered if my knees would hold up to the kneeling portion of the ceremony. I said, ‘Yeah, almost.’
“I guess receiving this award feels like getting approval, like when you get a gold star in school, maybe you’ve done something and you know what you’ve accomplished and if you get that stamp of approval from above then it’s a really good feeling, it’s very special.’
Sir Brian is no stranger to Buckingham Palace, having performed during the Golden Jubilee in 2002, playing a lead guitar version of God Save The Queen from the roof of the famous royal residence.
After being knighted by the King, he said: “We’ve had some contact over the years and we’re of legal age, so I have a strong feeling for him and it was a lovely time.”
“We discussed the fact that we are of legal age and he was wondering if my knees would hold up for the kneeling part of the ceremony,” Sir Brian said.
Sir Brian May after being knighted a bachelor by King Charles III, with his wife Anita Dobson
In June last year, he performed with Queen at the Platinum Jubilee, where the late monarch played the We Will Rock You rhythm over a cup of tea at the end of a famous skit with Paddington Bear, leading up to a live rendition of the song.
Speaking of this, he added: ‘During the rehearsal period, I walked by quite often, lingering between paintings.
“It’s great, the visuals are amazing, we had a lot of adventures trying to figure out how we were going to achieve that performance on the roof, which was actually quite difficult technically.”
“And on that day, almost none of it worked that morning, so there was a lot of fighting and head-scratching and I only got to hear myself and the orchestra about 10 minutes before the actual performance, it was pretty creepy.” but very exciting.
Also recognized were former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, Sir Tom Scholar, who becomes Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and UK Ambassador to Kiev, Dame Melinda Simmons, who was awarded a Dame for her services. to British foreign policy.
