Queen guitarist Brian May has spoken of the impact Aids had on Freddie Mercury – revealing the frontman lost most of his foot as he battled with the disease.
May said he is “sure” that Freddie would still be alive if a combined drugs therapy had arrived “just a few months” sooner.
The flamboyant singer was just 45 when he died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from Aids in 1991.
Brian May (Dominic Lipinski PA Wire/PA Images)
Speaking to the Sunday Times magazine, 69-year-old May said: “The problem was actually his foot, and tragically there was very little left of it. Once, he showed it to us at dinner. And he said, ‘Oh Brian, I’m sorry I’ve upset you by showing you that’.
“And I said, ‘I’m not upset, Freddie, except to realise you have to put up with all this terrible pain’.”
The guitarist said Mercury did not want to discuss his condition with the other members of the band initially – but they were aware of the gravity of his illness.
Freddie Mercury on stage (PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
He said the “magic cocktail” of drugs – which means HIV and Aids is no longer considered a certain death sentence – came too late for his band mate.
He added: “He missed by just a few months. If it had been a bit later he would still have been with us, I’m sure.
“Hmmm. You can’t do ‘what if ‘ can you? You can’t go there because therein lies madness.”
May was speaking ahead of a release of his book Queen In 3-D which contains a series of snapshots of the legendary band from their formation in the 1970s through to the present day.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here