Queen guitarist Sir Brian May has revealed he has suffered a stroke that left him unable to use his arm.
The legendary musician, astrophysicist and animal rights campaigner, 77, made the announcement in a video shared on his personal website earlier today.
However, Sir Brian – who looked animated and well in the video blog despite the ‘scary’ medical episode – he said he can still play guitar following what he called his ‘little health hiccup’.
And he has asked fans not to ‘clutter up’ his inbox with good wishes, adding that he doesn’t want sympathy.
He quietly made the announcement in the early hours of the morning in the UK, with an Instagram post of the video shared at 1.42am.
‘I’m here to bring you some good news – the good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days,’ he said, twiddling his fingers for emphasis.
‘I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago and what they called it was a minor stroke.’
Sir Brian May has revealed he suffered a stroke last week that left him unable to use his left arm
May is the guitarist in legendary rock band Queen (pictured: John Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor Queen in 1970)
Sir Brian revealed he had suffered a ‘minor stroke’ – but he has reassured fans he can still play guitar, twiddling his fingers for emphasis in the clip
He had been seen in public just days before, appearing on TV’s This Morning to discuss his BBC documentary on badger culling on August 23
The We Will Rock You writer revealed the incident left him temporarily unable to use his left arm – but that he had a ‘very exciting’ emergency ambulance journey to Frimley Hospital in Surrey.
He has praised staff there for giving him the ‘most fantastic care’.
‘All of a sudden, out of the blue, I didn’t have any control over this arm, so it was a little scary, I have to say,’ he continued.
‘I didn’t want to say anything at the time because I didn’t want anything surrounding, you know. I really don’t want sympathy.
‘Please don’t do that because it’ll clutter up my inbox and I hate that.’
But the animal rights activist, who has campaigned against the culling of badgers to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis, says he is currently ‘grounded’ as a result.
‘The good news is I’m okay. Just doing what I’m told, which is basically nothing. I’m grounded.
‘I’m not allowed to go out – well, I’m not allowed to drive, not allowed to get on a plane, not allowed to raise the heart rate too high… but I’m good.’
The rocker – who also has a PhD in astrophysics after abandoning his studies to pursue a career in music – had been seen in public just days before the scare, appearing on ITV’s This Morning on August 23 to promote his BBC documentary on badger tuberculosis.
He was also photographed a week beforehand discussing the documentary at a wildlife centre in Surrey.
Status Quo guitarist Francis Rossi, 75, was among the first fellow rockers to wish Sir Brian well.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘It comes to us, I suppose. We’re in our mid 70s, I just wish him well.’
He added of Sir Brian’s guitar-playing: ‘If he keeps practicing I’m sure it will work (out).’
Brian May pictured at a wildlife rescue centre in Surrey on August 15 – days before he is thought to have suffered a stroke
The Queen guitarist has campaigned on the topic of badger culling for years (pictured in 2016 outside the Houses of Parliament)
The Queen guitarist was recovering from a ripped muscle and trapped nerve as a result of a gardening injury, when he suffered a heart attack in 2020
Sir Brian was able to see the lighter side of the ordeal – captioning a video on the topic ‘Sheer Heart Attack after one of Queen’s best-known albums
Without missing a beat, Sir Brian also discussed the reaction to the film, which aired the night of August 23, in the video he shared this morning.
‘The other news is our documentary has been very much in our minds,’ he continued.
‘We had some great reactions from farmers particularly – also from wildlife people of course, because we’re very much in that corner still – but the documentary was really about farmers, as people discovered to their surprise, I think.
‘It’s no surprise to me that we are not at odds at all with the farmers. We are at odds with the people who have been feeding them the wrong information.’
He has since shared other videos on badgers on Instagram – suggesting the stroke has done little to temper his fervent campaigning.
This is not the first health scare the glam rock guitarist has suffered, having survived a heart attack in 2020.
He had been recuperating from a torn muscle and trapped nerve as a result of a gardening injury when he experienced a sudden onset of chest pains.
Sir Brian reported his concerns to his doctor – who drove him to hospital himself, where the guitarist learned he had a number of blocked arteries.
Sharing a video on social media recounting the experience, he said: ‘I was shocked, I thought I was a healthy guy. Everyone says I’ve got a great blood pressure and I keep fit, I bike, good diet.
‘I had – in the middle of the whole saga of the painful backside – I had a small heart attack. I say small, it’s not something that did me any harm. It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness. It’s that feeling in the arms and sweating.
‘And you kind of know, you’ve heard things and you think “this is a heart attack”. To cut a long story short, my wonderful doctor drove me to the hospital himself and I had an angiogram (an X-ray used to examine blood vessels).’
Sir Brian went on to reveal that doctors discovered he had three arteries congested and he was in danger of blocking the supply of blood to his heart.
Doctors suggested that he undergo open heart surgery, but Brian opted for the alternative which was to have three stents put inside his heart.
Sir Brian May pictured at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July this year
Sir Brian May is married to Eastenders legend Anita Dobson, who played Angie Watts on the BBC soap
Sir Brian continues to perform with Queen – seen here playing the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan last October
He still managed to see the bright side, captioning the video: ‘Hmm… Sheer Heart Attack eh?’, after one of the band’s best known albums.
Recounting the scare, his wife Anita Dobson said she initially thought her husband Brian May‘s 2020 heart attack was down to him ‘overdoing it’ after too much exercise.
The EastEnders legend, 73, was later shocked to learn the real extent of his ill health, when he was hospitalised and found to be ‘very near death’.
Speaking to the Mail’s Richard Eden about Brian’s heart attack, Anita recalled: ‘He said, “Babe, I think I’m having a heart attack”, I said “No, you’ve been exercising and you’ve overdone it“.’
However, her guitarist husband of 22 years was quick to emphasise things were more serious than she thought, as she added: ‘He replied, “No, this is different”.’
Sir Brian courted controversy last month after filming BBC documentary, Brian May: The Badgers, The Farmers and Me, in which he blasted the ongoing badger cull, which has killed tens of thousands of the creatures.
It inflamed a BBC bias row amid claims that commissioning the film was ‘incompatible’ with the broadcaster’s impartiality rules.
After the documentary aired, Labour announced that it would end the badger cull within five years and set about vaccinating the animals against bovine TB.
Sir Brian got his start in music forming the band 1984 with school friends in the 1960s before forming Smile with Roger Taylor, who would later become Queen’s drummer.
The pair joined forces with a young African immigrant called Farrokh Bulsara – aka Freddie Mercury – to form Queen in 1970, recruiting John Deacon as bassist and creating one of the world’s greatest ever rock bands.
Sir Brian was given an OBE in 2005 and knighted last year for services to music and charity.
He was among the surviving members of Queen, alongside Freddie’s estate, to benefit from the sale of the band’s entire back catalogue to Sony Music for a reported £1billion earlier this year.
What are the symptoms and causes of a stroke?
A stroke is life-threatening medical condition that happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off.
Like all organs, the brain needs oxygen.
If this supply of oxygen is stopped or restricted, brain cells begin to die.
This can lead to brain injury or even death in some cases.
Stroke symptoms are commonly remembered under this four-letter acronym, FAST. Patients experiencing a stroke can often have their face drop on one side, struggle to lift both arms and have slurred speech, while time is essential, as immediate treatment for a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke can substantially slash the risk of a much deadlier major stroke
What causes a stroke?
There are two main causes of strokes:
- Ischaemic – where the blood supply is stopped because of a blood clot, accounting for 85 per cent of all cases.
- Haemorrhagic – where a weakened blood vessel supplying the brain bursts.
High blood pressure, high cholesterol, irregular heart beats and diabetes can raise your risk of a stroke.
What are the symptoms?
The main symptoms of stroke can be remembered with the word FAST:
- Face – the face may have dropped on 1 side, the person may not be able to smile, or their mouth or eye may have dropped.
- Arms – the person with suspected stroke may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in 1 arm.
- Speech – their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake; they may also have problems understanding what you’re saying to them.
- Time – it’s time to dial 999 immediately if you see any of these signs or symptoms.
Other signs and symptoms may include:
- Complete paralysis of one side of the body
- Sudden loss or blurring of vision
- Being or feeling sick dizziness
- Confusion
- Difficulty understanding what others are saying
- Problems with balance and co-ordination
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- A sudden and very severe headache resulting in a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before
- Loss of consciousness
Source: NHS
