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Brian May Image Credit: AP

The Queen guitarist Brian May says he is in “a much better place” after going through a “bad period” last year.

In October 2016, he announced that he had to pull out of his remaining commitments for the year after battling with a “persistent illness” but has now revealed he is feeling much better, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“I went through a very bad period before Christmas and cancelled everything, not just the tour, everything. I just knew I couldn’t handle it.

“Strangely enough I prefer not to call it depression now. I’ve recently got very much into the body and mind. All my life I’ve been pathetic at doing exercises. I now have a regime — every morning I do 40 minutes of exercise, then I finish with meditation. It’s really enabled me to recentre. I feel like I’m in a much better place,” he said.

The 69-year-old musician, who is married to actress and singer Anita Dobson, is happy to open up about his mental health and is glad it has helped to raise awareness and encourage conversations of the “taboo” subject.

He told The Sunday Times magazine: “I noticed Prince Harry opened up in a similar way. I’ve always thought it’s nice to be open and I get reinforced in that because I get tons of mail saying the fact that you talked about it has helped me feel like I wasn’t alone and wasn’t a freak. I don’t think all this taboo business is helpful at all.”