Brian May rules out touring the US with Queen due to “dangerous” political climate
Brian May has ruled out returning to the United States with Queen due to the current political climate, which he deemed “dangerous”.
Queen, who have been touring with Adam Lambert as their singer since 2012, last visited North America for a run of shows in 2023.
However, they have no plans to return anytime soon. His comments come after both Alex Pretti and Renee Good have been killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, and protests have broken out across the country against Donald Trump’s administration.
During a new interview with the Daily Mail, May said of the current state of America and why he wouldn’t want to return with Queen, “America is a dangerous place at the moment, so you have to take that into account.”
The guitarist then reflected on the band’s relationship with the US, adding, “It’s very sad because I feel like Queen grew up in America and we love it, but it’s not what it was. Everyone is thinking twice about going there at the moment.”
Only in September, May revealed that Queen were in discussions about a possible residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas, which presumably no longer looks set to go ahead.
He told Rolling Stone, “ I’m very keen on the Sphere. It’s got my mind working. I sat there watching the Eagles, thinking, ‘We should do this. The stuff that we could bring to this would be stupendous.’ So, yeah, I would like to do it. We’re having conversations.”
Another place where Queen won’t be playing is Glastonbury Festival due to a disagreement between May and the festival’s founder, Michael Eavis, on badger culling.
May explained earlier this month to the Daily Mail, “I wouldn’t do Glastonbury next year because of the politics of the people who run it, unless that changes, I won’t do it.”
He added, “They like killing badgers, and they think it’s for sport and that’s something I cannot support because we’ve been trying to save these badgers for years, and they are still being killed for years, so that’s the reason we’re missing out on it.”
Previously, in 2018, Eavis branded May a “danger to farming” due to the musician being against farmers culling badgers in order to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis.
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