Brian May in ‘a much better place’

English band Queen’s guitarist Brian May (left) says he is in “a much better place”, after going through a “bad period” last year. In October, he had pulled out of his commitments for the year after battling with a “persistent illness” but he has now revealed that he is feeling much better, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

May says, “I went through a very bad period before Christmas and cancelled everything, not just the tour, everything. I just knew I couldn’t handle it. Strangely enough I prefer not to call it depression.

“I’ve recently got very much into the body and mind. All my life I’ve been pathetic at doing exercises. I now have a regime - every morning I do 40 minutes of exercise, then I finish with meditation. It’s really enabled me to recentre. I feel like I’m in a much better place.”

The 69-year-old musician is happy to open up about his mental health, and is glad it has helped to raise awareness and encourage conversations of the “taboo” subject.

In an interview with The Sunday Times magazine, May said, “I noticed Prince Harry (of the English Royal Family) opened up in a similar way. I’ve always thought it’s nice to be open and I get reinforced in that because I get tons of mail saying the fact that you talked about it has helped me feel like I wasn’t alone and wasn’t a freak. I don’t think all this taboo business is helpful at all.”