Brian May’s wife has shared an update on the Queen legend’s health after they experienced a “scary time” last year. In September 2024, the Queen guitarist disclosed that he’d been rushed to hospital after suffering from what was described as a “minor stroke”, although Brian dubbed it a “little health hiccup”.
In an Instagram video, the 77-year-old rocker detailed how he lost control of his arm “out of the blue” but received the “most fantastic care and attention” from Frimley Hospital. His wife, Anita Dobson, known for her role as Angie Watts on EastEnders, has now shared an update about her “tough” husband. She revealed that he now exercises every day.
Anita told Woman’s Weekly: “He’s fine now; thank you very much for asking. It was a scary time. But he’s tough, and he exercises every day now and he’s good. He’s really good.”
She also confirmed that Brian was on the mend during an appearance on Good Morning Britain, telling hosts Ed Balls and Charlotte Hawkins that he was “back to his old self”.
Opening up about the nature of his illness, Brian explained that he used “sheer willpower” to recover. He said: “I couldn’t get a fork from the table to my mouth without it all going all over the place.”
In February, he told Premier Guitar magazine that it was “amazing what you can get back” after “only a few days”. Brian also suggested that he’d recouped 95% of his abilities, which he described as “enough”.
It follows reports from Brian May’s guitar tech, Pete Malandrone, that the Queen icon suffered a “horrible” accident in the 2000s while he was on tour with Paul Rodgers.
During the incident, Brian fell into an open slot holding a piano set to be raised onto a stage. Speaking on Justin Hawkins’ podcast last year, Pete revealed that it “looked horrendous”.
Recounting the moment, he said: “He (Brian) went in, luckily, went in on his back, and he landed on half on the piano and half on, on Paul’s tech Marcus.
“And it was horrible, because it looked horrendous. But we got him out and it was dark on the stage. He just didn’t see the hole. We got him out, and the guitar was really badly out of tune and he was obviously pretty shaken.”
When asked if he needed a doctor, Brian assured them he would be okay, but they had to call for a paramedic “just in case”. Brian toured with Paul Rogers between 2004 and 2009 and has toured with Adam Lambert since 2011.