Back in July last year, Sir Brian May spent his 77th birthday in Tuscany performing a set with Andrea Bocelli at the third and final of his consecutive 30th anniversary concerts.

In addition to being surprised with a birthday cake – not to mention the Italian maestro singing Happy Birthday to him live on stage – the pair performed a sweet duet together.

The Queen guitarist hailed the experience as “one of my most unforgettable moments of 2024 – with the magnificence of Andrea Bocelli in beautiful Tuscany.”

And now the classical singer himself has paid tribute to his British friend in a touching new post.

Sharing a photo of them embracing, Bocelli captioned the Instagram post: “Inexplicable, incredible, and above all, enchanting: the emotional connection in the air at the Teatro del Silenzio blew me away. Events like this usually create boundaries, even between peers, but all that was swept away by authenticity, the joy of being together, and a genuine overflow of affection that stemmed from mutual esteem. Like with Brian May, a great artist, guitarist, composer, astrophysicist… In short, a genius, whom I can now dare to call a friend.”