Music : Anita Dobson gives health update on Queen’s Brian May after stroke

Brian May‘s wife Anita Dobson has shared another update on the musician after he suffered a stroke earlier this year.

The Queen guitarist, 77, told fans about the health scare in a post on social media in September, but assured his followers that he was on the road to recovery.

May explained that the “minor stroke” came on “all of a sudden, out of the blue”, and left him without any control over one of his arms. He said the incident was “a little scary” before recalling the “fantastic” medical care he had received.

“The good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days,” May said at the time.

Later, actor Anita Dobson (EastEnders) explained that her husband was “doing great” and said the couple were “very pleased” with the progress he was making. She went on to say she was “completely confident” that May would “make a full recovery”.

Now, Dobson has spoken about his health again during a new interview with The Mirror. “He’s much better now, he’s stabilised now, which is brilliant,” she told the newspaper. “I just hope we don’t have any more reoccurrence.”

She continued: “He’s got the use of that arm, which was a bit of a challenge, back now. So, yeah, he’s good to go now. He’s playing the piano quite a lot in the house. He likes a lot of Beethoven. I love it – the piano in the house is really, just very relaxing.

“He didn’t actually try [to play an instrument] until after he’d recovered quite a bit. And then he very slowly started to pick up an acoustic guitar and gradually just exercise the muscles. And it very quickly came back.”

Dobson added: “He’s just retraining the messages from your brain to that arm, that it’s actually okay to do what it used to do. It was scary.

“And also being a genius for someone like that. His brain’s overloaded, that’s what it is. He’s too clever for his own good.”

In October, May was pictured backstage with The Last Dinner Party at the band’s show in London. Sharing the image on social media, he wrote: “That was just what I needed – a good ol’ dose of Rock Tonic.”

When posting a video message in September about his stroke, May said: “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.”

In 2020, the guitarist was admitted to hospital after suffering a heart attack caused by an arterial disease. He told fans that he was “very near death” after doctors found he had three congested arteries.

Meanwhile, May recently explained why he had revamped his guitar parts on Queen‘s debut album for a new reissue.

Queen wrapped up a run of tour dates with Adam Lambert in February, and do not have any other live shows scheduled currently.

Queen Extravaganza, the official tribute band of Queen, are due to embark on a UK and Ireland tour in 2025. The upcoming gigs will celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.