Brian May stroke: Queen star's wife Anita Dobson explains how he learned to play guitar again

5 December 2024, 10:34 | Updated: 5 December 2024, 10:40

Brian May stroke: Queen star's wife Anita Dobson explains how he learned to play guitar again
Brian May stroke: Queen star's wife Anita Dobson explains how he learned to play guitar again. Picture: Getty

By Mayer Nissim

Brian May is well on the road to recovery after his "minor stroke".

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Earlier this year, Brian May revealed that he had suffered a minor stroke.

While the Queen icon temporarily lost control of one of his arms, he reassured fans that he was now able to play guitar again.

Now his wife Anita Dobson has offered a further update about the health scare and how Brian returned to music.

"He's much better now, he's stabilised now, which is brilliant," Anita said at the TRIC Christmas Lunch, where she was honoured with an award.

"I just hope we don't have any more reoccurrence."

Brian May reveals he had a minor stroke

She added of Brian's return to playing: "He's got the use of that arm, which was a bit of a challenge, back now.

"He's good to go now. He’s playing the piano quite a lot in the house. He likes a lot of Beethoven. I love it – the piano in the house is really, just very relaxing.

“He didn’t actually try until after he’d recovered quite a bit. And then he very slowly started to pick up an acoustic guitar and gradually just exercise the muscles. And it very quickly came back"

Brian May in concert in 2023
Brian May in concert in 2023. Picture: Getty Images

Anita continued: "He's just retraining the messages from your brain to that arm, that it’s actually okay to do what it used to do. It was scary.

"And also being a genius for someone like that. His brain’s overloaded, that’s what it is. He's too clever for his own good."

Following his stroke, May said he had received "fantastic" care at Frimley Hospital where he had been taken in an ambulance with "blue lights flashing... the lot".

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