Queen's Brian May 'grateful' after recovering from 'small heart attack'

Veteran musician Brian May has revealed that he recently suffered what he described as a near-fatal heart attack, but said he is now on the road to recovery.

Earlier this month, May shared on social media that he was hospitalised after he ripped the muscles in his glutes "to shreds" in a gardening accident, which left him in debilitating pain.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, the Queen lead guitarist said when he went in for a check-up, doctors found a tear in his gluteus maximus muscle and assumed that must be the cause.

But it was only after an MRI on his lower spine that they found the real problem: a compressed sciatic nerve.

"Why did those discs in my spine get so squished? Well I think 50 years of running around with a guitar strap over my left shoulder holding a heavy guitar might have something to do with it!" May, 72, captioned the video.

The diagnosis was followed by a "small" heart attack one day.

He described the attack as "about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness and that feeling in the arms and sweating".

An angiogram revealed a massive blockage that could have been deadly, May said, adding he underwent a surgery to receive three stents.

"I'm incredibly grateful that I now have a life to lead again.

"I was actually very near death because of this, but the pain that I had was from something completely different, it's funny how things work. I'm good; I'm here; and I'm ready to rock," he said in the video.