“Brian walked up to me and said, ‘I dig that.’ I was finger-tapping with my right hand. He says, ‘I'm going to nick that from you!’” The mystery virtuoso who inspired Brian May to two-hand tap recalls the exact moment it happened

Rocky Athas and Brian May playing live.

In 2021, Brian May told Guitar Player he’d been inspired to develop his two-hand tapping chops after witnessing an unnamed electric guitar supremo use the expansive technique during a gig in Texas.

That anonymous virtuoso was again referenced by May in an interview with Classic Rock, and though he was never explicitly identified by the Queen guitarist, sources suggested that mystery virtuoso was Rocky Athas.