We might think Brian May is responsible for some of the most electric and iconic guitar riffs in the world, but underneath the wall of hair and veneer of rock godliness, he’s actually quite insecure.
It’s true – as much as May defined the scene of 1970s rock and beyond, most definitely pulling his weight along with the greats, the Queen guitarist doesn’t think he’s anywhere close to the top of the tree, even after all this time, and will still bow to the better judgment of his heroes. It’s undoubtedly a humble approach, but maybe someone should tell him he was in one of the greatest rock bands in the world. He deserves the status.
But even still, May is yet to be convinced, and is much happier to laud the star power on a trio of other prolific guitarists whose skills he classifies as far superior to his own. For his own part, his main insecurity revolves around his playing abilities and the feeling that this emits from the very crux of his soul.
He admitted in a 2001 interview: “If I’m tired or stressed or the sound is really horrible, I lose that sort of singing sensation and I’m just trying to make the guitar sound good with my fingers. Those are the moments you lose your soul, like a child of three trying to play, and I hate that feeling.”
In his eyes, many other guitarists who don’t experience this loss of control are simply far better at their jobs, as he then conceded: “I’m not the world’s greatest guitarist. I’m not a virtuoso, and if I’m around people like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai or Steve Lukather, I feel totally humble.” And sure, in this respect, these rock cronies really are the best of the best – having played with everyone from The Rolling Stones to Frank Zappa to Toto – but this doesn’t mean that May is totally out of their league.
The reason you can say as much, even if you’re not the most prolific fan of either Queen or May in his own right, is because his guitar heroes also treat them as one of their own, every bit as talented as the rest of the pack. This was even admitted by May when he revealed: “But then there’s a moment when they say, ‘Hey Brian, we enjoy what you do’… and then I feel great.”
Recalling an experience where he was invited to play with them live at a festival, May’s reservations and resolutions were packed into a nutshell. “I said yes, but felt ever so insecure. Then, as soon as I played a few notes, they all smiled and were making faces like that was what they wanted to hear.”
It’s not like he’s some schoolboy needing encouragement to find his inner genius, but there is something quite refreshing about May’s humility. He may have been in one of the rock bands in the world, but he’s still chasing the prize.
That said, despite his humble pretences, if the random everyman ever went up against May in a battle of the bands, he would undeniably blow anyone out of the water. It’s perhaps just that his grace comes in doses – when he’s in front of his rock contemporaries, he’s allowed to act all bashful, but when he’s at home in the arenas and stadiums, it’s almost like he’s the lion waiting for his prey to enter the den.