Queen's Brian May plays surprise live set launching his custom Gibson guitar - photos

Legendary Queen guitarist Sir Brian May performed a short surprise set in London last night (18th February) at the launch of his brand-new Gibson Custom Brian May SJ-200 12 String acoustic guitar.

The 77-year-old rock icon unveiled his first custom Gibson guitar on the first day of Gibson Garage Fest, a week-long series of events celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Gibson Garage London.

Sir Brian took part in a Q&A session with Absolute Radio presenter Leona Graham before stunning guests at Gibson Garage London with an acoustic performance on the 12-string instrument.

Nimbly playing his Gibson Custom Brian May SJ-200 12 String, Brian May performed Queen’s seminal 1975 ‘A Night at the Opera’ track ‘Love of my Life.’

He was also joined on stage by singer-songwriter Arielle for a cover of The Everly Brothers’ ‘So Sad (to Watch Good Love Go Bad),’ and a rendition of his 1992 solo track ‘Love Track.’

Arielle also performed her songs 'Devil’s Disguise,' 'Weakness For You' and 'Magick Again' on the 12-string guitar at the event.

The Gibson Custom Brian May SJ-200 12 String acoustic guitar costs £6,899.00 and it's available to order here.

Brian May says of collaborating with Gibson and the creation of the SJ-200 12-String guitar: "It’s a dream come true, as soon as I held the guitar, I thought this is what I need. It has such presence and such a beautiful breadth of sound. Gibson has done the most beautiful job, it has the lovely solar system on it, including Mercury, but the most important thing is it sounds massive.

“It’s very traditional old school technology, not made with AI or mechanised in any way. I take fantastic pride in it and I’m very honoured to have worked with Gibson. From the days when I used to gaze enviously at the guitar catalogues, sitting there with my dad, I wish he was here to see this amazing fusion of the collaboration we’ve made.”

Commenting on the one-year anniversary of Gibson Garage London, he continued: "It harks back to the days when I used to go to music shops and drool over the guitars and wish that I could touch one, but you couldn't in those days. Gibson has done a wonderful thing by making it a place that people can come to, even if you are a kid and you're not rich or famous and you're not that great a guitarist, you can still come in here and you will be welcome, and you can get into the world of guitars."

“When Queen was starting out it felt like there was no way in... There wasn't a place like this to get accustomed to people. There wasn't a place that you could play because you couldn't play anywhere unless you had a record deal and you had a record out, and you couldn’t get a record deal unless you were playing, so it was a complete catch-22 situation. It’s still hard, but a place like this can really help."

The limited-edition Brian May SJ-200 12-String acoustic from Gibson Custom now available to purchase at the Gibson Garage London, the Gibson Garage Nashville, and online via www.gibson.com.

Listen to Absolute Radio across the UK on your digital radio, the free Rayo app, by hitting that play button on the bottom of your screen or by asking your smart speaker to "play Absolute Radio".

• Queen
• brian may
• Galleries