Brian May prepares to launch book in King's College London
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Brian May, 74, has slammed the BRIT awards for scrapping their Male and Female award categories. The Queen guitarist hit out at this new “woke” culture, saying that in society there is an “atmosphere of fear everywhere because people are afraid to say how they really think”.
You know life doesn’t have to be like that.
Brian May
Brian admitted that he doesn’t think Queen would have been the same if they were starting now.
He said: “For instance, Freddie came from Zanzibar, he wasn’t British, he wasn’t white as such – nobody cares, nobody ever, ever discussed it.
“He was a musician, he was our friend, he was our brother. We didn’t have to stop and think: ‘Ooh now, should we work with him?’”
“Is he the right colour? Is he the right sexual proclivity?” Brian added to The Mirror at ITV’s Palooza yesterday.
Brian said it is “frightening” that now you have to be so “calculating about everything”.
He believes that even Queen, who have four BRITS, would not be considered diverse enough in the modern age.
The guitarist said: “We would be forced to have people of different colours and different sexes and we would have to have a trans [person].
“You know life doesn’t have to be like that.
“We can be separate and different.”
Brian was speaking against the decision to have an Artist of the Year award instead of separate ones after Sam Smith criticised the ceremony for lacking inclusion.
Critics argue that without separate awards female singers could be overlooked as they have been at previously male-dominated awards.
Brian added: “I get so sick of people trying to change things without thinking of the long-term consequences.
“Some of these things are an improvement, some of them are not.”
Brian left a touching tribute on Instagram today for Freddie Mercury, on the 30th anniversary since his death.
The guitarist captioned the post: “No words from me today.
“Thanks Vanessa for the graphic and thanks to all of you who have honoured dear Freddie today. Bri.”
Freddie died at just 45 years old on November 41 1991, after contracting HIV.
Brian was appointed a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 for “services to the music industry and for charity work”.
He is an active animal rights activist, with successful campaigns under the belt against the hunting of foxes and the culling of badgers.
Brian is married to Anita Dobson with the pair tieing he knot in 2000.
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