Queen guitarist Brian May says the band existed in almost constant chaos while its legendary frontman Freddie Mercury was alive.
While the band succeeded in keeping its personnel issues in-house, May says the turmoil was real.
"Oh, it was breaking up the whole time," he tells MOJO magazine. "Every time we made an album it seemed like we were about to break up, because of this business of 'what are we and where are we going?' All of us left the band at some point, and not just one time -- all the way through."
The trouble was, according to May, four distinct and stubborn personalities fighting to be acknowledged all at once.
"It's like four different artists trying to paint on the same canvas," he said, adding that it was "not a comfortable situation."
May said his own contribution to the disarray stemmed from guilt he felt about abandoning his science career. He says his mixed feelings, and fights with his father, about pursuing music made it difficult for him to enjoy his success early in the band's career.
The guitarist, whose memoir Queen in 3D comes out August 24, 2017, expands on the breadth of Mercury's contributions to the band.
"Everybody thinks that I put in the heavy riffs...the Wayne's World bit -- but that was Freddie's. He came up with a lot of our heavy stuffy, like 'Ogre Battle.'"
May also will not rule out recording new material with Adam Lambert, but he did not indicate any imminent plans.
"We've talked about it a lot. You can never say 'never.'"
Read the full MOJO feature here.
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