QUEEN guitarist Brian May has revealed he has suffered a stroke that saw him lose control of his left arm.
The legendary musician, 77, made the announcement in a video shared on his social media earlier today.
However, Sir Brian said he can still play guitar despite the “little health hiccup”.
In a video shared on his website, the music icon said: “I’m here to bring you first of all some news, I think. The good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days.
“I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup happened about a week ago. What they called it was a ‘minor stroke’.
“All of a sudden, out of the blue, I didn’t have any control over this arm, so it was a little scary.”
Sir Brian revealed the incident left him temporarily unable to use his left arm – but that he had a “very exciting” emergency ambulance journey to Frimley Hospital in Surrey.
The Queen guitarist has praised staff there for giving him the “most fantastic care”.
Describing his recovery, Brian said he is essentially “grounded” because doctors have told him not to do anything that could raise his heart rate too much.
He continued: “I didn’t want to say anything at the time because I didn’t want anything surrounding, you know. I really don’t want sympathy, please don’t do that because it will clutter up my inbox.
“But the good news is I’m ok and doing what I’m told which is basically nothing, I’m grounded.
“I’m not allowed to go out, drive, get on a plane, I’m not allowed to raise the heart rate too high. But I am good.”
Concerned fans quickly rushed to the comments to share their relief that the music legend was on the road to recovery.
One wrote: “Thanks for updating and showing us your smile. I can’t even imagine exactly what you’re really going through, but I hope you’ll feel better very soon and enjoy playing guitar again.”
Another said: “I’m very happy to hear that you’re doing so well! Strokes, large or small, as you know, are serious business and I hope you will heed your doc’s orders in every way, as frustrating as they may be! We want you to stay healthy for a long, lonnnnng time to come!”
This is not the first health scare the glam rock guitarist has suffered, having survived a heart attack in 2020.
He had been recuperating from a torn muscle and trapped nerve as a result of a gardening injury when he experienced a sudden onset of chest pains.
It comes as Sir Brian’s iconic band Queen have sold their back catalogue to Sony Music for a record £1billion.
As part of this deal, the company is acquiring all of their studio records, featuring hits like Bohemian Rhapsody, I Want To Break Free, Another One Bites The Dust and Don’t Stop Me Now.
However, Queen’s agreement will not cover their live performances.
Those rights are being retained by founding members Sir Brian and Roger Taylor who still tour as Queen with singer Adam Lambert.
The FAST method – which stands for Face, Arms, Speech, Time – is the easiest way to remember the most common symptoms of stroke:
F = Face drooping – if one side of a person’s face is dropped or numb then ask them to smile, if it’s uneven then you should seek help.
A = Arm weakness – if one arm is weak or numb then you should ask the person to raise both arms. If one arm drifts downwards then you might need to get help
S = Speech difficulty – if a person’s speech is slurred then this could be a sign of a stroke
T = Time to call 999 – if a person has the signs above then you need to call 999 in the UK or 911 in the US for emergency care.
Other symptoms include:
