Brian May says he has decided against another Queen tour. “I’m thinking maybe 50 years is enough,” the 79-year-old guitarist told The Times in an interview published Oct. 2, explaining a decision he said he made about 18 months ago.
May recalled being on tour in the United States when a close family friend died. He told his tour manager he wanted to go home for a few days and then return to the band, only to be told, “You know you can’t do that.”
“I love to play, I love to travel, but the trade-off is sacrificing your freedom,” he said. He wants more time with his wife, actress Anita Dobson, and his grandchildren, as well as the astrophysics work he has pursued alongside music.
In a September 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, drummer Roger Taylor had rejected the idea of announcing a farewell tour and said he thought Queen could continue. May also revealed that they had tried recording with Adam Lambert, although nothing had materialized from those sessions at the time.
A Sphere Visit Inspired May’s Plans for an Immersive Queen Show
Watching the Eagles at Sphere in Las Vegas prompted May to consider a Queen residency there. He told Rolling Stone in 2025 that conversations were underway, and he has since described sketching out an entire production that would use an immersive venue to present the band’s music.
Taylor invoked ABBA’s concert production in the new Times interview, saying he wanted Queen to develop its own approach. ABBA Voyage presents digital versions of the Swedish quartet alongside a live 10-piece band in London.
May said an immersive Queen experience could “conquer time and space,” but he believes realizing the show he imagines would currently require extensive use of artificial intelligence. He expressed serious reservations about that technology and criticized the environmental demands of the data centers supporting it.
In a September 2026 Absolute Radio interview, reported by Louder, May said he liked the idea of a permanent venue where audiences could experience Queen at different points in its history. He questioned whether recreating material from the band’s own catalog would resolve his objections to how AI uses artists’ work, and remained undecided about pursuing the project.
Queen + Adam Lambert’s Last Tour Ended at Tokyo Dome
Queen + Adam Lambert completed their most recent tour with their second night at Tokyo Dome on Feb. 14, 2024, according to QueenOnline. The five-show Japanese run also took them through Nagoya, Osaka and Sapporo.
When the dates were announced in August 2023, Taylor had raised the possibility of a final visit. “This may be the last time…who knows?” he said in the band’s announcement. The Japan dates followed the band’s North American shows in October and November 2023.
May subsequently joined Benson Boone at Coachella in April 2025 and reunited with him at London’s O2 on Nov. 4. The later appearance included Bohemian Rhapsody and a guitar solo on Boone’s Beautiful Things, May’s website confirmed.
On Sept. 28, 2026, May joined Taylor and the Ndlovu Youth Choir for We Will Rock You and Radio Ga Ga at London’s Roundhouse. The performance came during the penultimate show of the drummer’s solo UK tour supporting Violence Insane in a Beautiful World.
Queen Budapest Brings the Band’s Final Mercury Tour to Cinemas
May and Taylor spoke ahead of the release of Queen Budapest, which reaches cinemas and IMAX beginning Oct. 7. The concert film captures the original lineup’s July 27, 1986, performance at Budapest’s Népstadion during the Magic Tour.
Director János Zsombolyai’s team filmed the show on 35mm using 17 cameras. For the 40th-anniversary release, Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production in New Zealand restored the footage in 4K, while Queen’s studio team remixed the sound from the original multitrack recordings.
For a separate Roundhouse presentation, the band devised a standing concert environment with a giant LED screen, surround sound and synchronized lighting. The plans included a display of original Queen memorabilia from the band’s archive.
The film’s Blu-ray and DVD editions arrive Nov. 6, alongside digital and two-CD releases and the soundtrack’s first three-LP vinyl edition.