Queen's Brian May says Eurovision hero Sam Ryder is set for "almost unendurable fame"

(Image credit: YouTube)

Queen guitarist Brian May predicts that his friend Sam Ryder is set for "almost unendurable fame."

May took to Instagram to salute the UK's 2022 Eurovision star for his acclaimed performance on the BBC's New Year's Eve celebration concert in London which includes cameos from The Darkness' Justin Hawkins, former Spice Girl Mel C, and Norwegian pop star Sigrid.

Posting a video of Ryder taking applause from the crowd, May wrote: "Our buddy Sam Ryder totally smashing it on the (our old!) New Year spot. That was a tour de force, Sam. And you trading guitar licks as well as vocal licks with virtuoso pal Justin Hawkins blew me away. And your album is GREAT ! Welcome to almost unendurable fame !!! Happy New Year, folks. Bri".

See the post below.

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Earlier this year, Ryder spoke to NME about taking inspiration from Brian May's iconic 2002 performance on the roof of Buckingham Palace during the Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations when performing God Save The Queen at Silverstone race track ahead of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix in July.

"The National Anthem is an absolute banger," Ryder said, "so I took a lot of heavy inspiration from the legendary Brian May and his Palace-top shred guitar version of the anthem. We did something similar to that and sang our heads off on the grid. That was an amazing experience."

Ryder and May also joined forces, alongside Queen's Roger Taylor, and the Foo Fighters, to sing Somebody To Love at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, on September 3.

Watch fan-filmed footage, shot by YouTuber Stijn de Leeuw, of that performance below:

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.