Queen’s Brian May recuperating after leg surgery

Queen's Brian May
Queen's Brian May (Image credit: Kevin Mazur - Getty)

Queen’s Brian May is recuperating after undergoing leg surgery.

The guitarist has been keeping fans updated on Instagram and reports that he went under the knife after playing through the pain during Queen and Adam Lambert’s summer Rhapsody tour across North America.

May said: “I’m done! After a snip to my calf muscle, I’m feeling good. The theory is that it will release the excess tension in my Achilles’ tendon and get me out of a painful heel situation I’ve been in for many months. 

“I had the problem all through our last tour of the USA – and although adrenaline got me through, my running around was severely curtailed, and there were a couple of nights when I really couldn’t move at all around the stage – nobody noticed, it seems!

“So now I’ll be taking it easy just a bit, but full recovery should be just in time for getting back out on tour in January – hopefully with a good pair of heels! Thanks for your good wishes, folks. No cause for alarm.”

May later posted a video showing his bandaged left leg and added: “Thanks for your kind messages, folks. I’m doing fine this morning – a little sore but home and ready for a relatively relaxing day. 

“As you can see, everything still works! Still got my Sympathy Bandage and my anti-clot sock on, but they come off tonight.

“There’s a small band-aid underneath covering a very small incision. I actually can walk, but stairs are a bit of a challenge! Onwards!”

Queen and Adam Lambert will kick off 2020 with 17 arena and stadium shows across South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand before returning to Europe and the UK later in the year for further Rhapsody concerts.

Bohemian Rhapsody

<a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=38569&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2FBohemian-Rhapsody-Blu-ray%2Fdp%2FB07JHDY8S5%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-21" data-link-merchant="Amazon UK"" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bohemian Rhapsody
The biggest music biopic of all time is now available to purchase, and stars Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello and Lucy Boynton.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.