Queen guitarist Brian May has spoken of the impact Aids had on Freddie Mercury – revealing the frontman lost most of his foot as he battled with the disease.
May said he is “sure” that Freddie would still be alive if a combined drugs therapy had arrived “just a few months” sooner.
The flamboyant singer was just 45 when he died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from Aids in 1991.
Speaking to the Sunday Times magazine, 69-year-old May said: “The problem was actually his foot, and tragically there was very little left of it. Once, he showed it to us at dinner. And he said, ‘Oh Brian, I’m sorry I’ve upset you by showing you that’.
“And I said, ‘I’m not upset, Freddie, except to realise you have to put up with all this terrible pain’.”
The guitarist said Mercury did not want to discuss his condition with the other members of the band initially – but they were aware of the gravity of his illness.
He said the “magic cocktail” of drugs – which means HIV and Aids is no longer considered a certain death sentence – came too late for his band mate.
He added: “He missed by just a few months. If it had been a bit later he would still have been with us, I’m sure.
“Hmmm. You can’t do ‘what if ‘ can you? You can’t go there because therein lies madness.”
May was speaking ahead of a release of his book Queen In 3-D which contains a series of snapshots of the legendary band from their formation in the 1970s through to the present day.
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