Brian May Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Queen’s Brian May is recovering after he suffered a minor stroke.
The guitarist, 77, shared the news via an Instagram post on Wednesday, September 4, revealing that the health scare happened “about a week ago.”
“The good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days,” May said. “I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago … what they called it was a minor stroke.”
“All of a sudden, out of the blue, I didn’t have any control of [my left] arm. So it’s a little scary,” he continued, adding that he had the “most fantastic care and attention” from staff at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, England.
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May said, “I didn’t want to say anything at the time because I didn’t want anything surrounding [it]. I really don’t want sympathy. Please don’t do that because it’ll clutter up my inbox and I hate that.”
May is now at home recovering and noted that he is “OK.”
“Just doing what I’m told, which is basically nothing. I’m grounded,” he quipped. “I’m not allowed to go out, I’m not allowed to drive, not allowed to get on the plane. Not allowed to raise the heart rate too high. But I’m good.”
Brian May Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images
In May 2020, the legendary rock star suffered a “small” heart attack that he said left him “very near death.” His heart condition was diagnosed after he was taken to hospital for a ripped muscle in his gluteus maximus while gardening.
“Anyway, I had — in the middle of the whole saga of the painful backside — I had a small heart attack,” May said in a video shared via Instagram at the time, per the BBC.
“It’s not something that did me any harm. It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness, and that feeling in the arms and sweating,” he explained.
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May said he was fitted with three stents in his heart and was feeling much better.
“I walked out with a heart that’s very strong now, so I think I’m in good shape for some time to come,” he said.
“I was actually very near death … I didn’t die. I came out and I would have been full of beans if it hadn’t been for the leg,” he added.