One of the most iconic rock bands of all time once said “The Show Must Go On,” but that was more than 30 years ago.
Queen is done with touring, according to Anita Dobson, the longtime wife of guitarist Brian May. But that doesn’t mean they’ll never perform again.
“They will do little bits and bobs, but they won’t do those big tours,” Dobson told the UK Mirror earlier this month. “We are all getting old.”
May, 78, has had several health issues in recent years. He said a heart attack in 2020 was a “near-death experience” and suffered a stroke last year that temporarily left him unable to move his left arm.
Queen completed its last world tour in early 2024, with former “American Idol” star Adam Lambert singing lead vocals. Blabbermouth reports Dobson addressed the band’s future after Queen drummer Roger Taylor told Rolling Stone that there were no plans for a farewell tour.
“I don’t think we’re done,” Taylor said. “And I don’t think we’re going to say a final farewell tour. Because it never is, is it?”
FILE – Brian May of Queen performs during the “Rhapsody” tour on Oct. 30, 2023, in Chicago. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP
May told ITV’s “Love Your Weekend” that he’s been working to stay active and healthy, but nothing to suggest he would do another tour.
“I keep moving,” May said. “I do my biking a lot of times a week. I do a hundred lengths in the pool once a week. To me, that’s what’s keeping me going. That’s what’s keeping me alive.
“So, for now, I’m still here.”
Queen is one of the best-selling rock bands of all time, known for hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Somebody to Love,” “Under Pressure” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” May, Mercury, Taylor and bassist Roger Deacon were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003.
After Mercury’s death in 1991 (the same year the band released “The Show Must Go On”), May and Taylor continued to perform as “Queen +” with different singers, including Lambert and Paul Rodgers (of Free and Bad Company). Their last tour, “The Rhapsody Tour” with Lambert, began in 2019 after the success of the “Bohemian Rhapsody” movie, and finished in February 2024 following a two-year break due to the Covid pandemic.
Queen remains popular today with more than 61 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The band released a new version of “We Will Rock You” last year with rapper Megan Thee Stallion and recently shared a remix of “Who Wants to Live Forever” for the final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
