Queen's Brian May Reveals He Suffered 'Minor Stroke' and Had 'No Control' over His Left Arm: 'Little Scary'

Mar. 15, 2025

Brian May.Photo:Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty

Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty

Queen guitarist Brian May revealed he suffered a “minor stroke” on Wednesday, Sept. 4, and temporarily lost movement in his left armMay added that he is “grounded” at home while he recovers and is now able to play the guitar once againMay previously suffered a heart attack in May 2020 after he tore his gluteus maximus muscles while gardening at homeQueenguitaristBrian Mayis opening up about a recent health scare.On Wednesday, Sept. 4, May, 77, revealed he’d suffered a “minor stroke” around a week ago while speaking about his new documentaryBrian May: The Badgers, The Farmers and Mein a video posted toYouTubeandInstagram.“Good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days and I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago… it was a minor stroke and all of a sudden, out of the blue, I didn’t have any control over this arm. So was a little scary,” the musician recalled.“I have to say I had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital where I went, blue lights flashing… the lot. Very exciting!” he jokingly added, referencing his ambulance ride to the hospital in Surrey, England where he’d been treated.May insisted he “didn’t want to say anything at the time” because he doesn’t “want sympathy.““Please don’t do that ‘cause it’ll clutter up my inbox and I hate that,” “The Show Must Go On” hitmaker added, telling fans that the “good news” is that he’s “OK.“Sharing an update on his recovery, May said he’s “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, not allowed to have planes flying over, which will stress me. But I’m good,” he explained as a plane flew over his head.Brian May reveals he had a ‘minor stroke’.Brian May/instagramMay has suffered several health scares in the past, including recovering froma heart attack in May 2020, which came after hetore his gluteus maximus muscleswhile gardening, as he previously revealed in anInstagramvideo.“I could not believe the pain,” the songwriter said at the time. “Eventually I had another MRI, but this time I had one of the lower spine, and sure enough … I had a compressed sciatic nerve — quite severely compressed — and that’s why I had this feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back.“He revealed that he had a “small heart attack” amid the process of treating the pain in his backside, despite considering himself “healthy.““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.Brian May performs in San Francisco in November 2023.Miikka Skaffari/GettyNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.May, who also revealed he’d undergone"a little bit of eye surgery"in May 2021, toldGood Morning Britainin October 2020 thathe’d nearly diedof “shocking” complications from the heart attack medication he’d been on.“The worst thing that happened was a stomach hemorrhage and I lost an awful lot of blood. I was wiped out, couldn’t get across the floor,” he said at the time.

QueenguitaristBrian Mayis opening up about a recent health scare.

On Wednesday, Sept. 4, May, 77, revealed he’d suffered a “minor stroke” around a week ago while speaking about his new documentaryBrian May: The Badgers, The Farmers and Mein a video posted toYouTubeandInstagram.

“Good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days and I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago… it was a minor stroke and all of a sudden, out of the blue, I didn’t have any control over this arm. So was a little scary,” the musician recalled.

“I have to say I had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital where I went, blue lights flashing… the lot. Very exciting!” he jokingly added, referencing his ambulance ride to the hospital in Surrey, England where he’d been treated.

May insisted he “didn’t want to say anything at the time” because he doesn’t “want sympathy.”

“Please don’t do that ‘cause it’ll clutter up my inbox and I hate that,” “The Show Must Go On” hitmaker added, telling fans that the “good news” is that he’s “OK.”

Sharing an update on his recovery, May said he’s “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, not allowed to have planes flying over, which will stress me. But I’m good,” he explained as a plane flew over his head.

Brian May reveals he had a ‘minor stroke’.Brian May/instagram

Brian May/instagram

May has suffered several health scares in the past, including recovering froma heart attack in May 2020, which came after hetore his gluteus maximus muscleswhile gardening, as he previously revealed in anInstagramvideo.

“I could not believe the pain,” the songwriter said at the time. “Eventually I had another MRI, but this time I had one of the lower spine, and sure enough … I had a compressed sciatic nerve — quite severely compressed — and that’s why I had this feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back.”

He revealed that he had a “small heart attack” amid the process of treating the pain in his backside, despite considering himself “healthy.”

“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.

Brian May performs in San Francisco in November 2023.Miikka Skaffari/Getty

Miikka Skaffari/Getty

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

May, who also revealed he’d undergone"a little bit of eye surgery"in May 2021, toldGood Morning Britainin October 2020 thathe’d nearly diedof “shocking” complications from the heart attack medication he’d been on.

“The worst thing that happened was a stomach hemorrhage and I lost an awful lot of blood. I was wiped out, couldn’t get across the floor,” he said at the time.

source: people.com