Brian May, lead guitarist and a founding member of classic rock band Queen, has taken to Instagram to tell fans about his recent experience with Covid-19. Attending a party last Saturday with his wife Anita Dobson (whom some might recognise as a past cast member in EastEnders), the couple both noticed themselves feeling symptoms over the following few days. After three days of testing, May’s lateral flow test came out positive.
May tells us that before he tested positive, 8 other people from the party already had. At the time, he believed that the party would be safe, what with him (and other attendees) being triple jabbed and May describing the congregation as “a safe bubble“. However, after the result, he says that he “made a mistake“. May described the experience with the virus as “the worst flu you can imagine“, and that he felt “truly horrible”. However, in a series of two videos (titled ‘Life After the Double Red Line’ in reference to the lateral flow tests’ positive result), May let us know that he’s feeling much better now, citing his three jabs of the Pfizer vaccine as the reason.
Despite this, he urged others to get the vaccine, noting a friend who died of the illness early on in the pandemic, and doubting whether his own body would have fought against the virus so well without the jab’s help, saying “this is not the response my body would have made on its own”. People who wished the Queen star well include guitarist and YouTube star Rick Beato, known for his videos about music and his own experience in the industry, who told May to “feel better my friend”.
Also, singer-songwriter Talia Dean, whom May mentored and has worked with, wished him and his wife well, saying “big hugs to you both”. May also thanked his wife in one of his posts, calling her “amazing” and saying that she “was a warrior while I mainly slept through this – cooking up a storm and caretaking and holding everything together. Again. Who could be as lucky as I?“
The news comes as the Omicron variant continues to make its way around the world. Cases in the UK have been increasing, with over 90,000 people testing positive yesterday, as well as over 500,000 throughout the past week. May remarked on how transmissible this new variant is, describing it as travelling at “an alarming rate”, and noted the irony of catching it despite being so careful over the past 20 months with his wife. However, dedicated Queen fans can rest assured knowing May is over the worst of it by now. He ended his video by telling fans “don’t be scared but be cautious because you don’t wanna get this”.
