Queen guitarist Brian May has expressed his shock and grief at the unconscionable terrorist attack Monday night outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, and says it will not change the band's plans at the same venue later this year.
May says Queen + Adam Lambert will not be dissuaded from playing Manchester Arena in December, as scheduled.
"They want to ruin our lives," May told NME Tuesday of terrorists. "They want to stop us making music, dancing and being happy. Course they do. And we have to stick to what we believe in, which is that life is to be lived.”
“I woke up [Tuesday] morning and saw the news of Manchester and the first thing I did was tweet about it, just to express my grief and sympathy with the people," May said. "There were mums there that didn’t even know if there child was alive or dead. It’s the most terrible thing. To me, it’s almost impossible to imagine the kind of hatred that has to exist in someone if they would bomb children.”
He says he hopes the tragedy catalyzes change in British foreign policy.
"[Out] of tragedy comes knowledge and realization...[Britain] still [[has] this attitude that you can solve a violent situation by violence. I don't believe that."
He continued urging his country to "break the cycle of violence" by answering acts of evil with "compassion."