Queen guitarist Brian May has ruled out touring in the US for the foreseeable future, because of the potential danger it would pose.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the 78-year-old said: “America is a dangerous place at the moment, so you have to take that into account.
“It’s very sad because I feel like Queen grew up in America and we love it, but it’s not what it was. Everyone is thinking twice about going there at the moment.”
May did not specify the particular dangers they might face, but his comments come at a time when many American citizens and foreign visitors fear violence from ICE agents or examination of their political beliefs, and the threat of mass shootings – 425 such incidents in 2025, killing 420 people and wounding 1,898 – remains ever present.
The British dance music star Piri cited “what’s going on in the US right now” as a factor when she cancelled a US tour earlier this week. In 2025, the Hungarian classical pianist András Schiff cancelled US concerts, saying: “Due to the recent and unprecedented political changes in the United States, I feel morally obligated to withdraw from all engagements in the US.”
Also in 2025, Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny was asked by i-D magazine if the reason he didn’t schedule any US concerts last year was due to fears about deportation of Latino audience members. “Man, honestly, yes,” he replied. “There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate … But there was the issue of – like, fucking ICE could be outside [a concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Numerous events celebrating Latin heritage and culture have been cancelled since ICE ramped up activity during Donald Trump’s second term, due to fears they will be targeted by anti-immigration agents.
There are concerns beyond arts and cultural events, particularly around this year’s World Cup being hosted mostly in the US, and the implications for thousands of fans travelling from abroad.
The US is seeing a collapse in tourism revenue. In May 2025, the World Travel & Tourism Council projected that the US would lose $12.5bn (£9.35bn) in international visitor spending across the year. Figures later in the year supported that fall, with International Trade Administration, a US government body, finding that international visitor spending dropped 5.5% in September 2025 compared with September 2024.
Fears were compounded by the proposal by the US Department for Homeland Security and border officials to examine five years of social media activity by potential visitors to the US prior to being granted entry.
Queen are currently on a break from touring, after the end of their Rhapsody tour which ran from 2019 to 2024, featuring Adam Lambert as frontman.
As May describes, they have a rich history in the US. After breaking into the mainstream there with third album Sheer Heart Attack, they had five US Top 10 albums in a row, reaching No 1 with 1980’s The Game which featured two US No 1 singles: Another One Bites the Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love, the latter a clear homage to Elvis Presley and American rock’n’roll.
