Brian May has hit out at claims that he and fellow Queen member Roger Taylor turned down an offer to perform at the Oscars.
Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody is nominated for five awards, including best film and best actor. Rami Malek previously took home to best actor award at the Golden Globes earlier this year.
Earlier this week, the Daily Express reported that May and Taylor rejected the chance to perform at the ceremony but May took to Instagram to dispute the claim.
“NOPE! We never turned down playing at the Oscars,” he wrote. “We’re just happy and proud that Bohemian Rhapsody has received 5 nominations, and we will be there in support !!!” You can see the post below.
Back in November May praised Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury, saying: ““He’s incredible… without doubt he’ll be on the nominations list for an Oscar and well deserved as well.
“He inhabited Freddie to the point where we even started to think of him as Freddie. Really remarkable.”
Describing the global reaction the film, May said: “We’ve lived with this project for nine years and it’s incredible to see it doing so well.
“It came out to s***ty reviews, as some of our work has before, but the public has embraced it magnificently. Everybody gave 200%, from the actors and technicians to the production team and hair and make up, everyone.”
Praising Gwilym Lee, who portrays himself in the film, May added: “You don’t get any lukewarm responses. The guy who plays me should be getting awards all over.”