The biggest emotion in creation is the bridge to optimism.
The guitar was my weapon, my shield to hide behind.
When I'm gone, people will no doubt remember me for Queen, but I would much rather be remembered for attempting to change the way we treat our fellow creatures.
I tend to be not a person who does everything right all the time.
There is no way that you can ever really repeat something. I have this great belief that the magic of the moment can never be recaptured.
The guitar has a kind of grit and excitement possessed by nothing else.
I think music is about our internal life. It’s part of the way people touch each other. That’s very precious to me. And astronomy is, in a sense, the very opposite thing. Instead of looking inwards, you are looking out, to things beyond our grasp.
Astronomy's much more fun when you're not an astronomer
Each gig should be unique. You're always treading that line between keeping yourself fresh and giving people something they want to hear
I really thought I was pretty good before I saw Hendrix, and then I thought: Yeah, not so good.
What is left of your dream? Just the words on your stone. A man who learned how to teach then forgot how to learn.
I have to build my own boat this time. It's a big sea out there, and I have a pretty small boat. I have a lot of belief in it.
I just want to be able to play as fast as my brain goes, and my brain doesn't go all that fast.
Queen songs are not about the life of a rock star - they tend to be about the lives of normal people, which is why I think the songs connect so much. We're very lucky that they seemingly connect with every generation.
My mum says I wanted to be a surgeon, but I don't remember that. I think from the time I knew what was happening, I wanted to be a guitar player.
I'm not a person for sitting on beaches. What would I do?
Queen songs tend to be about very personal things: personal dreams and personal ambitions.
We do play to our audience. It's very important. You can't create music in a vacuum.
There are times when I've been feeling something and played a solo that I've never been able to repeat.
Everybody thought I was a bit of an eccentric for wanting to be out there looking at the stars, but I still do
I was an incurable romantic then, same as I am now. I was always pining away after somebody
There are times when I flick through magazines and think I'm in danger of becoming a prisoner of my own hair.
I never took sheet music seriously. I could do better myself just by listening to other people and using my own intuition.
George Harrison was a fabulous, fabulous, fabulous guitarist, and a wonderful example of what a rock star should be. I totally revered him as an innovator. He was always fresh, daring, magnificently melodic, full of spiritual quality, and totally conscious of the chord structure beneath the solo. And he had the courage to play simple. He never took refuge in effects, or tried to impress with speed. I hope he knew how much we all loved and respected him.
Sanctions always hurt the poor, the weak, the children.
