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(Credits: Far Out / Raph_PH)
Sun 13 October 2024 19:15, UK
Queen founding member Brian May has never been shy about the art of collaboration. The guitarist is always willing to pick up the phone and pursue an opportunity when it comes on the horizon. Still, one icon sadly passed away before May could work alongside them in the recording studio.
May’s list of collaborations includes a series of classics, such as Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’ featuring David Bowie, and in 1983, he teamed up with Eddie Van Halen for the Star Fleet Project. Furthermore, the guitarist has added his magical touch to beloved recordings by Hank Marvin, Meat Loaf, and Lady Gaga.
However, it would be amiss not to mention that May has also occasionally missed the mark with collaborations. In a bizarre meeting of worlds, May lent his talent to N-Dubz rapper Dappy’s solo track, ‘Rockstar’, in 2011. While it peaked in second position in the UK Singles Chart, it’s safe to say that the song will not be referenced in May’s obituary when that sad day comes.
As May’s ill-fated collaboration with Dappy proved, the guitarist is prepared to work with anybody if he feels the opportunity is fitting. That being said, certain people within the music industry never came calling before their passing, and one name, in particular, continues to haunt the guitarist.
May received his musical education as a teenager throughout the 1960s. He attended early shows by The Who and breathed in the vibrant air that clogged up the streets of London during that era. In his opinion, The Beatles were the cream of the crop, and John Lennon was especially a source of intense admiration.
He once told Classic Rock: “Lennon, from a frankly less-than-glamorous teenager with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, developed into the coolest guy on Earth. He was cool enough to write the greatest teen pop song ever, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’; to embrace psychedelia; to leave The Beatles when he felt it had all become a shallow game, and then to put his whole being into promoting peace in his solo work, producing the greatest, most daring and personally revealing solo albums ever made.”
Furthermore, in 2021, May shared in an exclusive interview with Far Out: “John Lennon is a massive hero of mine, and I was conscious in his solo work that John was grieving about losing The Beatles in various ways, and I was grieving about losing my band, and losing Freddie!”
Lennon’s music, with and without The Beatles, served as the soundtrack to May’s life during two distinctly different times. While the Fab Four were one of the major reasons that he entered the rock ‘n’ roll profession, all those years later, when his world collapsed following the passing of Freddie Mercury, Lennon’s work was again on hand to pick him up.
Therefore, due to his emotional connection with Lennon’s material, May views the late musician as the one who got away. May told The Guardian in 2023: “I very seldom turn down a collaboration. A regret is that I didn’t get the chance to work with John Lennon. The Beatles didn’t always agree, they were always pulling and pushing – a bit like us and Queen – and I think John would be such a stronger pusher and puller. You’d have to work really hard to keep up, to believe in your instincts. I could imagine us hitting it off.”
There’s no doubt that May would have crafted a magnificent piece of music for the ages alongside Lennon if the opportunity had arisen. The Beatle was also well equipped in this department, as he famously proved on ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’ with Elton John, and he could have acted as the perfect foil for the Queen guitarist.
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