He told the audience he couldn’t play because he’d had “an argument with a tin can” that apparently left him with a nasty cut on one of his fingers.
He and former Queen sidekick Roger Taylor, who did get on stage and played drums, made the trip to Copenhagen because it was the opening night of "We Will Rock You's" European Tour.
It’s the first time the cast of the London production has set foot in mainland Europe for years, and the speed of its ticket sales shows how much demand that’s created.
Live Nation Denmark chief Flemming Schmidt says the company will sell more than 100,000 tickets for the Danish shows.
After 16 shows at the 4,400-capacity Forum, the production moved on for eight more in the similarly sized and newly opened Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning.
In the UK, May and Taylor recently launched a set of Royal Mail stamps celebrating seven stage musicals, including “We Will Rock You.”