A few weeks after worrying fans with news of a "persistent illness" that was keeping him off the road, Queen guitarist Brian May has issued an encouraging update.

Without getting into any real detail about whatever sickness he's been battling, May took to Twitter yesterday to thank fans for their well wishes — and let them know that while he isn't totally out of the woods yet, his long-term prognosis looks good.

May's recovery comes too slowly to salvage his planned December solo dates — the latest in a series of annual "candlelight concerts" that would have seen him playing 11 shows with collaborator Kerry Ellis — but it leaves the door open for possible recording activity with the band's current vocalist, Adam Lambert. As previously reported, drummer Roger Taylor feels it's "quite possible" they could enter the studio at some point — provided May can "come up with a song or two" that makes sense within the context of the group's sound.

In the meantime, May and Ellis are expected to release a new album, Anthems II, in March. The duo released the track "Roll With You" earlier this year.

May is also currently in the news for his participation in an open letter to President Barack Obama, signed by a consortium of musicians that also includes members of Pink Floyd, Guns N' Roses and Green Day, urging his attention toward the treatment of Standing Rock Sioux tribe members — and other protesters — trying to block development of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Army Corps of Engineers, also recipients of the letter, recently decided to explore alternative routes for the pipeline, signaling a potential partial victory for the protesters.

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