Brian May hints Queen will live forever as ABBA-style avatars
"I'm very taken with the idea that we can be the original Queen again."
Last updated 24th Nov 2025
Sir Brian May has strongly suggested that Queen will launch an avatar show similar to the wildly successful ABBA Voyage.
In a new interview with the Big Issue to mark the recent 50th anniversary of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor spoke about the possibility of immortalising the band as avatars.
“Freddie (Mercury) is still alive through the music that we listen to all the time,” Brian May said. “In a sense, John (Deacon) is still with us in the same way, but now we have so many other opportunities.
“I mean things that are immersive, like The Sphere in Las Vegas, it will be possible to give people the experience very closely of what things were like for us when we were Freddie, John, Brian and Roger. And that really appeals to me.
“In our Queen shows for a very long time I’ve been doing ‘Love of My Life’. And in the end, Freddie comes in and joins me as on video. It was just quite simply done, but it’s a way of involving Freddie, and I think we can basically take that a lot further.
“It wouldn’t be just playing old footage or whatever. it would be creating Queen as if we were creating it today. I’m very taken with the idea that we can be the original Queen again.”
Expressing some reticence after watching the ABBA Voyage show in London, Roger Taylor added: “I had a good time. I enjoyed it (but) I didn’t find the actual projections that convincing. I do think technology now has come so much further since the ABBA show started, I think a lot more can be done.”
Back in September, Brian May revealed Queen are “having conversations” about a “stupendous” residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
"I’m very keen on the Sphere,” Brian enthused to Rolling Stone. “It’s got my mind working. I sat there watching the Eagles, thinking, ‘We should do this. The stuff that we could bring to this would be stupendous.’
"So, yeah, I would like to do it. We’re having conversations."
KISS have previously announced they’re planning to launch an avatar show in 2027.
Freddie Mercury - A life in photos:
Freddie Mercury's early years
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town in the British protectorate of Zanzibar on 5th September 1946. Here's Freddie as a baby. His parents, Bomi (1908–2003) and Jer Bulsara (1922–2016) were from western India.
Freddie Mercury's childhood
Freddie Mercury spent much of his childhood in India and attended St. Peter's School from the age of 8. Pictured is Freddie at St Peter's in 1958.
Freddie Mercury's childhood home
In 1964, Freddie Mercury and his family fled to England from Zanzibar to escape the violence of the revolution. They lived at two properties in Feltham, Middlesex before eventually settling at 22 Gladstone Avenue. Pictured is Brian May and Freddie's sister Kashmira Cooke at the property when a blue plaque was unveiled in September 2016.
Freddie Mercury at Ealing Art College
Freddie at Ealing Art College in London in 1969. He earned a diploma in Art and Graphic Design.
Freddie Mercury in 1969
Freddie Mercury in Kensington, West London in August 1969. Prior to fame he worked as a market stall trader in the now-demolished Kensington Market in London.
Freddie Mercury with band Ibex
Freddie Mercury (left) on the road in St Helens, Merseyside with the short-lived Liverpool band Ibex. When they failed to take off, he joined another band called Sour Milk Sea but by early 1970 they had split too
Freddie Mercury in early 1970s
Although famously shy, Freddie Mercury was an extrovert on stage. Here he is wearing a typically flamboyant outfit on stage in the early 1970s
Queen in 1973
Queen's Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May and John Deacon photoshoot in London in 1973.
Freddie Mercury in 1973
Freddie Mercury in 1973.
Freddie Mercury in rehearsals
Freddie Mercury rehearses for Queen's first major tour on 9th July 1973
Freddie Mercury in London in 1973
Freddie Mercury in London in August 1973.
Queen accept gold disc for debut album
Queen are presented with a gold disc for their eponymous debut album 'Queen' in Tokyo, 1974
Queen in 1974
Queen arrive back from their successful Australian tour in 1974.
Freddie Mercury in 1976
Freddie Mercury at Heathrow airport in January 1976 ahead of Queen's USA tour
Queen before receiving British Phonographic Institute awards
Queen in London, September 1976, to receive a British Phonographic Institute Platinum, Gold and Silver award for record sales.
Freddie Mercury at Madison Square Garden in 1977
Freddie Mercury in his imperious live prime at Madison Square Garden in January 1977.
Queen at Earls Court in 1977
Queen at Earls Court in London, June 1977.
Queen in 1978.
Queen looking cool in 1978.
Freddie Mercury in Paris in 1979
Freddie Mercury in his element, live in Paris in 1979.
Freddie Mercury in California in 1982
Freddie Mercury performing live in Oakland, California in 1982.
Freddie Mercury at Live Aid in 1985
Freddie Mercury during Queen's legendary Live Aid performance at Wembley in 1985. It's widely regarded as one of the finest concert performances of all time.
Freddie Mercury at Live Aid with Paul McCartney, Bono and David Bowie
Freddie Mercury performing with Paul McCartney, Bono, David Bowie and more at Live Aid, 1985.
Freddie Mercury in Sydney in 1985
Freddie Mercury on stage in Sydney in 1985.
Queen in 1985
Queen pose for a portrait in 1985.
Freddie Mercury and Anita Dobson in 1988
Freddie Mercury with Brian May's second wife Anita Dobson in 1988.
Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballe in 1988
Freddie and Monserrat Caballe perform 'Barcelona' at Barcelona's Montjuich park, to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic flag from Seoul, October 1988
Queen in 1989
Queen pose together in smart attire in 1989.
Queen at The BRIT Awards 1990
Freddie Mercury's appearance at The BRIT Awards in February 1990 was his last public appearance.
Flowers left outside Freddie's home after his death
Fans leave flowers outside Freddie's London home on 24th November 1991 – the day of his untimely death aged 45.
Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux
The iconic Freddie Mercury statue overlooking Lake Geneva in Montreux. Standing three metres high, the Irena Sedlecka sculpture was unveiled five years after Freddie's death by Montserrat Caballé and Freddie's mother Jer.
Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's
In 2023 Freddie Mercury's closest friend Mary Austin (to whom Freddie left half of his £75 million estate) announced that she was finally selling his life's possessions, which had been stored in his Kensington mansion since his death. Before the auction, Sotheby's displayed the 1,500 items at an exhibition in London, with members of the public able to view Freddie's outfits, artworks, lyric sheets, instruments, furniture and more.