Is Brian May related to James May? All about Queen’s vocalist as he reunites with Benson Boone for Bohemian Rhapsody

You'd be surprised that there's a whole fanbase that seeks to know if Brian May is related to Top Gear’s James May. Let’s clear that one up first: no, they’re not related. It’s just one of those classic British coincidences, same surname, same country, wildly different worlds. Brian May, of course, is the legendary guitarist and occasional vocalist from Queen, the man whose curly hair is as iconic as his Red Special guitar.

James May, on the other hand, is the soft-spoken motoring journalist who co-piloted Top Gear and The Grand Tour into television history. When Express revisited the rumour mill in 2020, James May found himself fielding questions about the peculiar fan theory that he was somehow related to Queen’s guitar legend, Brian May, or even to former Prime Minister Theresa May. The Top Gear alumnus cleared the air once and for all. He explained that, while he deeply admired Brian May, there was no familial link between them.

“No he’s not sadly [my brother], I would love to have Brian May as my brother because he’s great and has fantastic hair, he’s slightly older than me, so he’d have to be my big brother. We are not in any way related, I haven’t even met him.” he shared.

Meanwhile, Brian May made fresh headlines recently after teaming up with Benson Boone in London for live renditions of Bohemian Rhapsody and Boone’s viral hit Beautiful Things.

---

Benson Boone brought out Queen’s Brian May for a surprise O2 encore:

When Benson Boone took the stage for his second night at London’s O2 Arena on November 4, fans expected a big finish, but no one anticipated that ending. As NME reported, the rising pop star closed the show with a surprise that bridged generations of music lovers: Queen’s Brian May walked out to join him for an encore that no one in the crowd will forget.

The two-track finale opened with a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. Boone began the song alone, seated at the piano, before May strode onstage to thunderous cheers and tore through his legendary guitar solo. According to NME, after wrapping up the song, Boone addressed the audience with:

“Now that is how a crowd should sound when they see Brian May!”

The cheeky remark was a nod to Coachella earlier this year, where the guitarist’s cameo during Boone’s set received a more muted response.

The pair followed with Beautiful Things, giving the audience one final surge of emotion, and another dazzling solo from May.

Later that night, Boone posted a TikTok video that captured their playful chemistry, with both artists standing back-to-back to reenact the viral What’s Up / Beez In The Trap mash-up. Boone lip-synced to 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up, while May rapped Nicki Minaj’s verse from Beez In The Trap, sealing the collaboration with a wink to internet culture.

---

Brian May once thought ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was nothing out of the ordinary:

Bohemian Rhapsody may be one of rock’s most iconic tracks, but according to Brian May, Queen didn’t see it that way at first. In a conversation with Classic Rock, May admitted that the song, which became an anthem across generations, seemed fairly typical of what the band had already been doing.

“People have such a hard time understanding how unsurprising ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was to us, if you look at the first album, you’ve got ‘My Fairy King,’ which is very complex and goes all over the place,” he shared.

The track, written by Freddie Mercury, was a theatrical mashup of three song ideas he’d combined into one, and while it became a masterpiece to the public, Queen saw it as another experiment in their growing catalog. May pointed to March of the Black Queen from Queen II as an even more intricate predecessor.

“It is way more complicated than Mercury’s mock opera, so ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ wasn’t a surprise to us. It was just, ‘We’ll do another one of these things,’” he explained.

Producer Roy Thomas Baker recalled how the song took shape. “We were going out to dinner one night, and I met Freddie at his apartment in Kensington,” Baker told Sound on Sound in 1995.

“He sat down at his piano and said, ‘I'd like to play you a song that I'm working on at the moment.’ He played a bit and then stopped suddenly, saying, ‘This is where the opera section comes in.’ We both just burst out laughing.”

Thanks to Baker’s background with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, he immediately understood what Mercury wanted to achieve.

“I was probably one of the few people in the whole world who knew exactly what he was talking about,” he added.

Drummer Roger Taylor later reflected on how the group fully embraced the operatic chaos.

“As we were constructing the opera bit, we were getting more and more wild, stick a bit more on, stick another bit in, it’ll all be fine when it gets to the heavy section.’ And it was. We were planting our flag in the ground: ‘This is really us — it’s a bit mad but it’s got everything in it,’” he shared.