Queen guitarist Brian May has hit back at false claims that the surviving members of the band were asked to perform at the 2019 Academy Awards.
Later this month, the 91st Academy Awards are set to take place in Los Angeles. This year’s Oscars will honour a number of the previous year’s best films, with the likes of The Favourite and Roma receiving ten nominations each.
However, one film that folks are betting will perform well is Bohemian Rhapsody, the musical biopic based on English rock band Queen, and the life of charismatic frontman Freddie Mercury.
While Bohemian Rhapsody has already become the highest-grossing music biopic of all-time, it also recently took home the awards for Best Drama and Best Actor at the Golden Globes.
However, it appears to be in close contention with A Star Is Born, the recent remake of the classic film, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. While the film’s song ‘Shallow’ has been nominated for Best Original Song, it has been confirmed that all nominees from this category are set to perform their songs at the ceremony.
As Variety recently reported, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had initially planned to include more music on the day, supposedly reaching out to the surviving members of Queen to see if they would perform at the awards.
While Variety noted that Queen had supposedly turned down the offer, news of this got back to guitarist Brian May, who rebuffed the very notion.
Check out Brian May’s Instagram post:
Taking to Instagram recently, Brian May shared an image of the news from the Daily Express while disputing the headline in the picture.
“NOPE! We never turned down playing at the Oscars,” he explained. “We’re just happy and proud that Bohemian Rhapsody has received 5 nominations, and we will be there in support !!!”
While we’ll find out on February 24th whether or not Bohemian Rhapsody takes home any of its five awards, industry insiders are undoubtedly keeping a close eye on Rami Malek, whose portrayal of Freddie Mercury has him as a hot favourite to take home Best Actor.
Check out Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’:
