As Queen are seemingly gearing up to release new music, Brian May has given insight into how much input John Deacon has with the current incarnation.

Deacon, the band’s bassist, started to move away from regular band activity after the death of Freddie Mercury, for understandable reasons. He retired in 1997.

However, the remaining members still include him. Speaking to Mojo Brian May said “John still has a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ say… We get messages that he’s happy with what we’re doing, but he doesn’t want the stress of being involved creatively, and we respect that.”

“Freddie we can’t talk to, sadly. But the four of us worked as a team for so long that Roger [Taylor] and I have a pretty good idea what our fellow Queen members would be saying. This thing is longer that anybody’s marriage.”