Mazz Murray (pictured right with Kerry Ellis), 45, was due to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in October

A British singer was told she could not perform a song from Dreamgirls at the Royal Albert Hall because she is white, it is claimed.

Mazz Murray was due to perform in October, with the highlight being her rendition of a ballad from the musical.

But the 45-year-old West End star is said to have been barred from singing it because she is not black and the song is part of an ‘African American musical’.

Rock star Brian May said the apparent decision displayed an ‘unpleasant new kind of race-based injustice’.

Praising Miss Murray for her eight-year run in his band Queen’s musical We Will Rock You, in which she played the Killer Queen, May wrote on Instagram: ‘It seems some theatre impresarios, out of fear of being branded discriminatory to artists of colour, are making decisions that discriminate against white artists.

‘This lady has been denied permission to sing a song at the Albert Hall, apparently for racial reasons. She’s white and Jewish, and one of the most electrifying singers in Britain.’

Miss Murray, who is currently starring in Chicago and is the daughter of pop songwriter Mitch Murray, was due to sing And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going, part of an evening called The Best of the West End.

The singer has now allegedly been told she can't perform a song from Dreamgirls because she is not black (pictured far right after a one-night performance of Dreamgirls in 2017)

May claimed that when the show’s producers, Seventh Sense, approached the musical’s owners to ask permission to use the ballad they replied that it was not ‘appropriate’ for a white woman to sing it.

Dreamgirls began on Broadway and is based on acts such as The Supremes. It was turned into a film starring Beyoncé in 2006. Representatives for Miss Murray have been contacted for comment, as has Seventh Sense.

Earlier this week comedian Jack Whitehall’s casting as the first openly gay Disney character provoked a backlash because he is heterosexual.