Sir Brian May feared he'd never play guitar again after suffering a stroke

Discussing his anxieties about potentially not being able to play, he told Guitarist magazine: "It went through my mind. When I suddenly couldn't control this left arm, it was quite scary. I had no idea what was going on.

"I phoned my doctor and she said, 'Okay, I think you're having a minor stroke. Dial 999, get in the ambulance and I'll see you there.' But even at the worst time, although I couldn't control where the arm was, I could control my fingers.

"So I thought, 'I'm probably not really in danger.' I'm all right now. I'm just taking it slow."

The 77-year-old guitarist had told fans about his "little health hiccup" on Instagram just days after being hospitalised.

The 'We Will Rock You' hitmaker told fans in an Instagram video update: "I hope you're all well out there. I'm here to bring you first of all some good news. I think good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days and I say this because it was in some doubt because that little health hiccup that I mentioned happened about a week ago and what they called it was a minor stroke and all of a sudden - out of the blue - I didn't have any control over this arm so was a little scary."

Praising the staff who cared for him at Frimley Hospital in Camberley, Surrey, he added: "I have to say I had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital where I went blue lights flashing... the lot. Very exciting!"

His wife, actress Anita Dobson, confirmed a few weeks later that he was on track to make a "full recovery".

Speaking to The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column, Anita said: "He's been told to rest. It's hard to keep him resting, but he needs to, otherwise he won't get well.

"He's doing great - he's on the road, he's doing really, really well. We're very pleased.

"I'm completely confident he'll make a full recovery.

"You have to take things slowly, chill a bit. He's not that kind of animal!"