‘Genius’: Queen’s Brian May pays tribute to football legend Diego Maradona

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Queen guitarist Brian May salutes football legend Diego Maradona who passed away on November 25

Queen + Diego M
(Image credit: Neal Preston)

Queen guitarist Brian May  has paid tribute to Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona, who died yesterday (November 25) at his home in Tigre, near Buenos Aires. Maradona, who was captain of the Argentine national team when they won the World Cup in 1986 and also played club football with Barcelona and Napoli, was 60 years old.

In a post on his Instagram account, May saluted Maradona’s “wonderful talent”, shared a picture of Queen with the iconic footballer backstage at the Velez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires during their 1981 tour of south America and expressed his regret that he couldn’t have sent his own heart specialist to keep Maradona alive.

May wrote: “Half Angel, Half Devil, they said ... and all genius. Greatest Of All Time ? I wouldn’t know. But a wonderful talent. We enjoyed spending time with him when we played Velez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires in 1981. And he came on stage with us, to a massive roar. And that’s my T-shirt he’s wearing here ... bless him. RIP DIEGO MARADONNA. Too young. So sad. Wish I could have got my heart specialist to him to save him like I was saved. Bri”

Former Oasis  duo Noel and Liam Gallagher also paid tribute to Maradona, with vocalist Liam hailing the Argentine legend as a “Proper RNR footballer”, aka a proper Rock ’n Roll footballer. 

“No fucker will ever come near him,” Gallagher added.

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.