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Home / Entertainment

Queen will never tour America again, says guitarist Brian May

Bang Showbiz
30 Jan, 2026 07:55 AM2 mins to read

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Queen won't perform in the US due to safety concerns, says guitarist Brian May (centre). Photo / Getty Images

Queen won't perform in the US due to safety concerns, says guitarist Brian May (centre). Photo / Getty Images

Queen have no intentions of performing in America again because the country “is a dangerous place at the moment”, guitarist Sir Brian May has claimed.

The 78-year-old guitarist is dismayed by what is going on in the US under President Donald Trump’s second term, and he doesn’t believe the legendary rock band’s fans will ever see them Stateside again.

Speaking to the Eden Confidential column in the Daily Mail newspaper, May said: “America is a dangerous place at the moment, so you have to take that into account.

“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.”

Queen last performed in America in 2019 when they were on The Rhapsody Tour with singer Adam Lambert.

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The last time May and drummer Roger Taylor, 76, played live together was in September 2025 when they performed Bohemian Rhapsody at the Last Night of the Proms, marking the hit single’s 50th anniversary. The duo were accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and theatrical tenor Sam Oladeinde on vocals.

May, who suffered a stroke in 2024 which caused a loss of control in his left arm, but from which he has now recovered, recently vowed to never perform at Glastonbury because of culling of badgers on Worthy Farm, the festival site in Somerset, southwest England.

The We Will Rock You hitmaker, who founded the Save Me Trust which campaigns for the rights of foxes and badgers, said: “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.

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“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.”

Glastonbury founder and dairy farmer Sir Michael Eavis, 90, previously branded May a “danger to farming” and criticised him for his opposition to the badger cull, which is aimed at preventing the spread of bovine tuberculosis in cattle.

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