Queen's Brian May suffered a heart attack, he reveals in Instagram video

Brian May said he recently had three stents put in after experiencing a small heart attack. Photo / AP

Queen's lead guitarist shared he recently experienced a medical emergency.

Brian May revealed on his Instagram stories that after he found out he ripped his buttock muscles, doctors later made a frightening discovery, The Sun reports.

It was at the hospital that an angiogram showed May had three congested arteries.

"In the middle of the whole saga of the painful backside, I had a small heart attack. I say small, it's not something that did me any harm.

"It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness. It's that feeling in the arms and sweating."

"I turned out to have three arteries which were congested and in danger of blocking the blood to my heart."

According to The Sun, May was encouraged to have open-heart surgery, but instead had a procedure that put three stents in.

He said he felt much better after the operation.

"When I came around, it was as if nothing had happened.

"I couldn't feel they had been in there. I couldn't feel anything and I still can't, it's been amazing.

"It's an incredible operation done by the right skilful person and I thank them from the bottom of my heart".

View this post on Instagram

Hmm ... Sheer Heart Attack eh ? Well, I think I always worried a little bit about that album title. I wondered if it might upset some people who had actually had heart attacks. I’m actually quite relieved now that I’m in that club - and I don’t find it upsetting at all ! Take. care folks. And ... why did those discs in my spine get so squished? Well I think 50 years of running around with a guitar strap over my left shoulder holding a heavy guitar might have something to do with it ! But it probably WAS all worth it ! Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on May 24, 2020 at 7:42pm PDT

"I think I'm in a good shape for some time now," May says.

The Queen star is now encouraging everyone over 60 to get an angiogram.

"What seems to be a very healthy heart may not be."

"I could have died from that. Anyway, I didn't die, I came out."

He thanked his doctors and caregivers. May asked fans to send him congratulations, not sympathy messages.

"I'm incredibly grateful that I now have a life to lead again," he said.

His video post details a lengthy health saga this month that included dealing with a compressed nerve that was causing him extreme pain.

The month started with May and Roger Taylor — the remaining members of Queen — teaming up with singer Adam Lambert to release a new version of the band's "We Are the Champions" to raise money for frontline healthcare workers battling Covid-19.

Proceeds from the song benefit the World Health Organisation's Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

- With AP