Queen’s Brian May Reveals Why Ex-Bandmate John Deacon Still Gets a Say in the Band Despite Leaving in 1997

“He doesn’t want the stress of being involved creatively, and we respect that,” May added of Deacon’s hands-off approach to his role in the group today

Despite exiting Queen in 1997, Brian May says the group’s ex-bassist, John Deacon, still has “a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ say” in the group.

In a new interview with Mojo4Music, the legendary musician, 77 revealed that Deacon is still involved in final decisions that the band makes, noting, “We get messages that he’s happy with what we’re doing, but he doesn’t want the stress of being involved creatively, and we respect that.”

“Freddie [Mercury] we can’t talk to, sadly. But the four of us worked as a team for so long that Roger [Taylor] and I have a pretty good idea what our fellow Queen members would be saying,” he continued, adding, “This thing is longer than anybody’s marriage.”

(from left) John Deacon, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Brian May of Queen in 1985.Dave Hogan/Getty

Deacon joined Queen in 1971 as the group’s fourth member. He is renowned for his electronic skills, as he created the Deacy Amp, which May used to play guitar orchestras on many of Queen’s hit tracks. The bassist also contributed musically to all of Queen’s albums, but his participation in the group declined after Mercury died in 1991. He retired completely by 1997.

Since his retirement, the musician has remained publicly silent throughout the 21st century about his contributions to the band, having not given a single interview since the 1990s.

However, in recent interviews, Taylor has touched on the possibility of himself, Deacon and May coming together to create new Queen music, telling U.K. publication Uncut (as reported by Music News), “I think we might. Brian and myself were talking the other day, and we both said that if we feel we have some good material, why not? We can still play. We can still sing. So I don’t see why not.”