Brian May believes Freddie Mercury would have stayed with Queen

No one can say for sure what Freddie Mercury would be up to if he were still alive today, but Queen guitarist Brian May believes Freddie would have remained frontman for Queen.

Speaking with BBC's Simon Mayo, May surmised that Freddie would probably be busy with many projects, but Queen would have been one of them.

"He would still be saying, 'Oh, I need to do my solo stuff,' but he would be coming back to the family to do what we do," May said. "The funny thing is I feel more and more that he is kind of with us in a way. Maybe I'm getting to be an old romantic, but Freddie's in my day every day."

May and drummer Roger Taylor have enjoyed another wave in Queen's popularity following the band's partnership with Adam Lambert in 2011 and the Academy Award-winning biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in 2019.

The guitarist admitted that Queen doesn't do anything without considering what Freddie's perspective would be.

"He's always in my thoughts," May said. "And I can always kinda feel what he would be saying in a certain situation like, What would Freddie think? Oh, he'd probably like this; he'd laugh at this, or whatever. He's so much part of the legacy we created, that will always be the case."

Freddie passed away from complications from AIDS in 1991 at age 45.

May says the four band members — Freddie, Taylor, bassist John Deacon and himself — became a family in the 20 years they were together. He says they still grieve Freddie's death while also celebrating his incredible life and legacy.

"We created wonderful stuff together that is still making people happy," he concluded.