BOTH, WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER? AND I WANT TO BREAK FREE ARE AS MUCH ABOUT FREDDIE AS ABOUT BRIAN'S GUITAR WORK.

The inimitable Freddie Mercury, or (Farrokh Bulsara) as they are about Brian May’s lead guitar work, particularly in the above two hit songs. The guitar is of course the legendary, Red Special, which is the electric guitar designed and built by Brian May and his father, Harold when Brian was a teenager in the early 1960s. The Red Special is sometimes referred to as the Fireplace or the Old Lady by May and by others.