After a health scare, Brian May stunned Coachella crowds with a surprise performance, proving his incredible recovery as he joined Benson Boone on stage
Legendary Queen guitarist Sir Brian May surprised Coachella fans with an unexpected appearance during Benson Boone’s set, joining him for a rendition of the band’s hit song Bohemian Rhapsody.
Videos from the event show Boone, 22, donning a regal cape as he plays the piano and sings the track, which was written and performed by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Halfway through the performance, May, 77, who appeared in high spirits, popped up on stage, delivering his legendary guitar solo and leaving the audience in awe. Brian has been out of the spotlight in recent months after suffering a health scare, during which he was cared for by his wife at their countryside home.
US singer Benson Boone also treated festivalgoers to a performance of his chart-topping single Beautiful Things when he took to the Californian stage on Friday night. Sir Brian posted a photo with Boone to his Instagram page and wrote: “Do we look happy ? !!! Gonna treasure this moment on the plane with @bensonboone – a truly golden 22-year-old prodigy.
“I’m proud and happy to say we are now officially pals.” During his set, Boone also announced his second album, American Heart, which will be released on June 20.
The shock performance comes after Brian experienced a significant health scare in September 2024, sparking concern among his fans. At the time, May revealed that he had suffered a “minor stroke” a week earlier and had feared his “little health hiccup” had ended his illustrious music career.
Sharing the news with his fans on Instagram, the iconic music star said: “I’m here to bring you some good news — the good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days.
“I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago and what they called it was a minor stroke. It was a little scary, I have to say,” he added.
The music star described the sudden loss of movement in his arm as a shock, coming completely “out of the blue” during his health scare. Fortunately, his condition gradually improved, and his wife, Anita Dobson, 75, confirmed that he’s been able to continue practising his music.
She told The Mirror in December: “He’s much better now, he’s stabilised now, which is brilliant,” she said. “I just hope we don’t have any more reoccurrences. He’s got the use of that arm, which was a bit of a challenge, back now.”
Anita continued: “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.” However, she also revealed Brian gave himself a bit of time before he attempted to play anything at all. “He didn’t actually try until after he’d recovered quite a bit,” she said.
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