Brian May proved he was back to his best with a storming performance alongside Benson Boone at Coachella last Friday night (April 11) after suffering a stroke last year. However an earlier health issue nearly put a stop to his career before it began. In 1974 the legendary Queen guitarist received seemingly innocent innoculations in January so the band could travel to Australia. However it transpired he had been treated with a dirty needle and as a result he was hospitalised with hepatitis and nearly lost his arm when he developed gangrene, almost halting Queen's break through.

Worse was to come when doctors also found an ulcer. His ill health had huge repercussions for the band. When he was first afflicted in May 1974 they were a month into the their first US tour, opening for Mott the Hoople. When Brian collapsed and was diagnosed they were forced to cancel the remaining dates.

At the time the band were not yet a huge success and had received very mixed reviews for their first two albums Queen and Queen II.

They had yet to release Bohemian Rhapsody and this was to be their first time touring the US and a huge opportunity for the group.

To add insult to injury Brian had not fully recovered to be able to join the rest of the band, singer Freddie Mercury, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon, when they started recording their third album Sheer Heart Attack.

However he managed to return midway through the recording process and they started making serious waves with the release of the first single from it - the iconic Killer Queen.

"It certainly was a bad time but my illness brought me back to myself.

“The thing about hepatitis is that it takes away all your drive and I was left feeling as if I didn’t have anything to contribute. Some times I felt as if it just wasn’t worth it, either," he told Disc magazine following his recovery.

“They’d got so much done without me - they were really good about it. All I had to do was go in and put my bits on. There’s more guitar on this album than there’s been on any of the previous ones.

"The only thing that really suffered from my illness was that I have about three and a half songs on the album," he quipped about the writing credits.