Brian May says Queen will not tour again
Queen will not tour again.
Guitarist Brian May confirmed the decision in an interview with The Times, saying he made up his mind 18 months ago that he did not want to return to the road. His remarks were reported by Rolling Stone on 5 October 2026.
May explained it in direct language: maybe 50 years is enough.
He said touring means giving up freedom for long periods. He would rather keep that time for his wife, actor Anita Dobson, for his grandchildren, and for his work in astrophysics, the study of stars, planets and the universe.
The death of a close family friend sharpened that choice. According to Far Out, which covered the Times interview on 4 October, May said the loss made him realise he had to make a change.
The current line-up, Queen + Adam Lambert, has not performed together since the Rhapsody world tour ended at the Tokyo Dome on 14 February 2024. That night in Japan closed a touring run that had stretched across several years and continents.
For fans, this means the silence since Tokyo was the signal. There was no on-stage farewell. The decision rested with May for more than a year before he said it aloud.
May had already taken one part of the map off the table. In January he said Queen had no plans to tour the United States in the foreseeable future because it is "a dangerous place", in comments reported by Sky News. He had discussed the same point in an interview with the Daily Mail. The latest statement goes wider and rules out touring altogether.
The Rhapsody production had only recently been extended. In March 2023 May, drummer Roger Taylor and Lambert announced the show would return to North America that autumn, according to Reuters. Those dates fed into the final world run that finished in Tokyo.
A different kind of live show is still possible. May said a visit to the Sphere in Las Vegas, a large round venue built for sound-and-image shows, led him to sketch out a complete Queen production for that kind of space. He said an immersive Queen experience, a show where the audience stays in place while sound and visuals move around them, is still on the cards.
No venue, dates or format have been confirmed for that idea. It would let the production stay in one place while audiences come to it. The touring band, May made clear, is finished.
