American duo Sparks tried to lure Brian May away from Queen in late 1974, believing that his flamboyant rock group had already peaked. Interviewed in the new issue of MOJO the guitarist recalls, “The two guys from Sparks came to my house. They’d had a hit with This Town Ain’t Big Enough, and they said to me, ‘Look, your band are OK, but you’re obviously not going to have any more hits, whereas we are going to conquer the world. Fancy joining us?’” May reveals he declined the offer, telling them, “‘I love you guys, but I don’t think so.’ [By then] Queen were finally going somewhere.”

The guitarist was talking to MOJO about the two prestigious shows Queen played at London’s Rainbow Theatre in 1974, celebrated by the multi-format Live At The Rainbow ’74, out in September.

Read more in MOJO 251…