QUEEN Guitarist Defends Decision To Play Rome

The Associated Press is reporting that QUEEN guitarist Brian May is standing by their decision to play Rome, even as the city mourns Pope John Paul II.

QUEEN and guest vocalist Paul Rodgers played a show in Rome on Monday.

But according to the British Broadcasting Corp., Italian authorities had asked the band to postpone the show out of respect for the pope.

The band played anyway, opening the show with a minute of silence, and Tuesday justified the move to play on his Web site.

"You have to understand that music is our lives — to be asked not to play music on a day of mourning is like being asked not to breathe," May wrote. "I sincerely hope that when I die people will feel they can sing and dance and do everything that comes naturally to them."

May said in his post that he wasn't trying to say he's more "important than anyone else."

"We are all just God's creatures, every one of us; birth and living and death are with us every day," May wrote. "In my view we must all act according to our own consciences and beliefs, so long as they don't hurt anyone else."

May added that if there were laws to not play on specific days in specific countries, that would be a different matter and he would honor them.

The guitarist thanked his fans for showing up and the concert. He said they meant no disrespect to the pope, but they also did not want to disappoint the QUEEN fans who had waited years for them to tour again.

"The thought of disappointing those 9,500 QUEEN fans after 20 years was too much," May wrote. "As you may have heard, we had a minute's silence in respect to the Pope's passing, and I dedicated 'Love of my Life' to those dear to us whom we are missing, to give an opportunity for the people in the audience to explore their own feelings, whatever they might be."