“He always said, ‘You can do anything anyone can do, Brian. You can do this for me.'”Brian May reflected on how Freddie Mercury would help him with feeling insecure in his art, noting how the late frontman was always “Jimi Hendrix in his mind” even when “he was nothing and nobody.”In moments like Queen’s legendary performance on 1985’s “Live Aid”, when they were playing in front of tens of thousands of people, and with millions (probably even billions) of people watching the recorded footage in the decades to come, rock musicians may seem like literal gods descended upon Earth.

However, being a creative means struggling with self-doubt far more often than people realize, and worldwide rock stars are no exception — in most cases.

“With me, it always starts off with a burst of activity, belief and inspiration. And thinking, ‘Ah, this is gonna change the world.’ And it’s usually followed by a period of complete insecurity, thinking, ‘Oh, no, this is rubbish. This is never gonna work. Everyone’s gonna, you know, my band’s gonna hate it.’ And then working through it”, Brian May said of his own creative process in a recent interview with Guitar World, using 1984’s “The Works” as an example.However, such feelings are only natural, and most are bound to experience them sooner or later, the May notes:

“I think it’s common to a lot of people – that moment when you spring it on your people around you, and you’re looking at their faces, and you feel very insecure in the moment. When I sing a song to someone, it’s always nerve-racking for me, no matter who it is. If they’ve never heard it before, I get all kinds of insecure. You just have to get over that.”

In Sir May’s case, the Queen’s late and great frontman was always there to dispel any lingering doubt with his own enthusiasm and confidence. The guitarist added:

“Freddie [Mercury] was always great. I used to sing stuff to him, and he was always very encouraging. Of course, I was generally writing for him. I was conscious that I had to write something that would work for him, not just for me. And generally, he would take hold of it very quickly.”

“In many cases, I’d say, ‘Oh, yes, yes, yes, I can do this, darling. Just give me a chance; just put me in there, and I’ll do this.’ [Freddie] was always very upfront; he had an amazing amount of drive, optimism and energy. He was very helpful with my insecurities – and he kind of chose me as his guitarist in the early days.”

He added:

“Even when Freddie was nothing and nobody, he was Jimi Hendrix in his mind. And I enabled him to have that at his fingertips. He always said, ‘You can do anything anyone can do, Brian. You can do this for me.’ That sounds like I’m making him out as big-headed, but he wasn’t; it was just this enthusiasm of, ‘We can do this together. We can be the best thing in the world.'”