Top 70 Brian May Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Astronomy’s much more fun when you’re not an astronomer.”

— Brian May

2. “The biggest emotion in creation is the bridge to optimism.”

— Brian May

3. “The guitar has a kind of grit and excitement possessed by nothing else.”

— Brian May

4. “Sanctions always hurt the poor, the weak, the children.”

— Brian May

5. “Everybody thought I was a bit of an eccentric for wanting to be out there looking at the stars, but I still do.”

— Brian May

6. “I tend to be not a person who does everything right all the time.”

— Brian May

7. “My mum says I wanted to be a surgeon, but I don’t remember that. I think from the time I knew what was happening, I wanted to be a guitar player.”

— Brian May

8. “When I’m gone, people will no doubt remember me for Queen, but I would much rather be remembered for attempting to change the way we treat our fellow creatures.”

— Brian May

9. “The guitar was my weapon, my shield to hide behind.”

— Brian May

10. “I have to build my own boat this time. It’s a big sea out there, and I have a pretty small boat. I have a lot of belief in it.”

— Brian May

11. “Queen songs are not about the life of a rock star – they tend to be about the lives of normal people, which is why I think the songs connect so much. We’re very lucky that they seemingly connect with every generation.”

— Brian May

12. “I was an incurable romantic then, same as I am now. I was always pining away after somebody.”

— Brian May

13. “I think music is about our internal life. It’s part of the way people touch each other. That’s very precious to me. And astronomy is, in a sense, the very opposite thing. Instead of looking inwards, you are looking out, to things beyond our grasp.”

— Brian May

14. “There are times when I flick through magazines and think I’m in danger of becoming a prisoner of my own hair.”

— Brian May

15. “I go through major crises every few months, but then I have great peaks of belief and creativity. I’m a weird kind of animal.”

— Brian May

16. “To my mind Keep Yourself Alive was never really satisfactory. Never had that magic that it should have had.”

— Brian May

17. “I’m the nice guy who sits there signing everything that’s put in front of me.”

— Brian May

18. “I’m a much better musician than astronomer. I think the world got the right choice.”

— Brian May

19. “My children hate me being such a big star. It’s very hard for them to have a father who is always in the public eye.”

— Brian May

20. “I don’t think anybody comes close to The Beatles, including Oasis.”

— Brian May

21. “My big hobby is photography. I collect stereo photographs from the 19th century.”

— Brian May

22. “I despise the Lottery. There’s less chance of you becoming a millionaire than there is of getting hit on the head by a passing asteroid.”

— Brian May

23. “I spent 20 years of my life building up Queen, and now Im spending years of my life trying to get away from it.”

— Brian May

24. “A good video can make all the difference.”

— Brian May

25. “There’s nothing I’m embarrassed about.”

— Brian May

26. “You want to go in the steam bath to get your vocals sounding well, but you don’t want your fingers to get soft.”

— Brian May

27. “If I go to places where other people are playing, I often get up and play myself. I just enjoy the sound and feel of playing.”

— Brian May

28. “The Wedding March has a bit of a death march in it.”

— Brian May

29. “People have been rumouring that Queen are going to split up for the last eight years at least. I’ve got some great cuttings at home from people saying ‘One thing is certain, Queen will no longer exist in a year’s time.’ And that was in 1973.”

— Brian May

30. “We’ve done an arrangement with an orchestra, but I think the best stuff tends to come when it’s just the four of us.”

— Brian May

31. “Mantovani was a great influence on me.”

— Brian May

32. “There is no way that you can ever really repeat something. I have this great belief that the magic of the moment can never be recaptured.”

— Brian May

33. “Einstein got most of the things right about black holes. I’m not an expert, I must admit.”

— Brian May

34. “In print, people can do anything to you. Everything you do is picked apart. People love it; they’re waiting for you to make a mistake.”

— Brian May

35. “From the beginning of Queen there was such momentum that I never had any time to do anything else. My energy was 95% focused on the band.”

— Brian May

36. “I’m into paradoxes. I wanted to make an album about them, but the group told me I was a pretentious fart. They were right.”

— Brian May

37. “I’d put a lot of work into playing guitar, and was thinking I was pretty damn good. But Hendrix came along and destroyed everyone.”

— Brian May

38. “I’m pretty basic as far as technique is concerned. I don’t use many gadgets, and I like the sound my guitar makes, anyway.”

— Brian May

39. “There are a lot of things in Queen albums that you don’t expect; that’s why we threw them in.”

— Brian May

40. “I like to go for a walk or swimming or in the garden when I can. It’s a busy kind of life, but I guess I’m lucky.”

— Brian May

41. “Every time I listen to Jeff Beck my whole view of guitar changes radically. He’s way, way out, doing things you never expect.”

— Brian May

42. “We do play to our audience. It’s very important. You can’t create music in a vacuum.”

— Brian May

43. “Each gig should be unique. You’re always treading that line between keeping yourself fresh and giving people something they want to hear.”

— Brian May

44. “Doing Made In Heaven was like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, but I wouldn’t have put my seal of approval on it if I hadn’t thought it was up to standard.”

— Brian May

45. “I was actually perfectly happy when I had no money, which lasted right up until we had a hit with Killer Queen, in 1974. I never wanted for anything.”

— Brian May

46. “I’m hopeless at playing scales. Try and be instinctive first and analytic afterwords, although it’s good to study the theory of music.”

— Brian May

47. “I just want to be able to play as fast as my brain goes, and my brain doesn’t go all that fast.”

— Brian May

48. “Not for a million – years. I mean, I like the INXS boys, but I found the process very degrading, really. Reality television has eaten away at our standards of excellence. I don’t like this whole culture, which has evolved, of TV being the king.”

— Brian May

49. “It’s wonderful for me to see what ‘We Will Rock You’ has done. ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ have kind of transcended the normal framework of where music is listened to and appreciated – they’ve become part of public life, which I feel wonderful about.”

— Brian May

50. “I think Queen tribute bands are great. However, we have to keep them at arm’s length, otherwise it could be too dangerous.”

— Brian May