Brian May Reveals His Favorite Guitar Solo

Anyone who knows Queen’s lead guitarist would remember his insane riffs that would make his guitar steal the spotlight.

In an exclusive interview that was led by Top Guitar, Brian May was asked about his favorite solo of all time, to which he replied spontaneously with Eric Clapton’s “Key to Love” from John Mayall’s Blues Breakers album. He responded, “It’s the hottest, burning, high-passion piece I’ve ever heard in my life – still to this day. I just love it. It totally rips, and I’ll never get over that. That’s one of my great inspirations.”

He complimented Clapton’s solo by stating, “The whole track revolves around that solo. Every time I put it on, I’m just waiting… John Mayall’s great, but you’re waiting for that moment when Eric rips out and suddenly he’s whacking into those top notes. It’s incredible. Absolutely spine-chilling.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oei5PTADpPM

As the discussion progressed, Chris Bird from Top Guitar asked him about his favorite Queen guitar solo, and May went on to point out “Killer Queen” from their Bohemian Rhapsody album. He explained that the song was his favorite as it was a complex thing that turned into an adventure when he tries to incorporate the harmonies into such. “It was quite a step into the unknown, that solo, and it has a melody that I put in there which doesn’t appear anywhere else in the song,” he said.

“My dream was to use the guitar as an orchestra instrument, and I was lucky enough to make the dream come true,” May further explained. He thought of the song as a “small jazz band” that interacts and does not just follow each other in parallel. It was also the first time that he achieved to get the tune by its accuracy.

“With Killer Queen, it worked out so nice. I would probably put that forward as the one that perhaps I would want people to remember me by.”