Brian May, the co-founder and lead guitarist of Queen, has reminisced about the tough days after the frontman of the band, Freddie Mercury, passed away at the age of 45 and revealed if they’ve ever considered finding another Freddie to continue to the journey.

During the latest interview he gave on the BBC Radio 2’s The Michael Ball Show, May have opened up about how the passing of their precious bandmate and iconic vocalist, Freddie Mercury, affected them after ruling the world stage together for decades.

May looked back on those days and said that they thought they would never be able to do those things again without Freddie. He recalled driving around and coming across an arena, thinking they won’t be doing that again.

The legendary guitarist indicated that there was no feeling of finding another Freddie Mercury, contrary to what is believed. What happened after that was sort of a gift from God, Brian May said.

He explained that things just happened and they found themselves back out there playing these wonderful arenas and taking the roof off, just like in the glory days. As you know, Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 due to complications from AIDS.

He confirmed the day before his death that he had contracted the disease, having been diagnosed in 1987. Mercury had continued to record with Queen following his diagnosis, and he was posthumously featured on the band’s final album, ‘Made in Heaven.’ In 1992, his tribute concert was held at Wembley Stadium.

Here’s what Brian May said when asked if they thought they would never be able to continue after Freddie Mercury:

“Totally yes. I remember driving around, and now again coming across an arena I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, they can hold about 18,000, we won’t be doing that again, that was what we used to do.’

Yeah, absolutely. There was no feeling of, ‘Oh, let’s find another Freddie‘ – never.

Well, what happened, it was sort of a gift from God, in a way, I suppose, that things just happened and we found ourselves back out there playing these wonderful arenas and taking the roof off, just like in the glory days.”

You can check out the rest of the conversation below.