Brian May & Kerry Ellis - Panic Attack 2021 (It's Gonna Be All Right)

“PANIC ATTACK 2021” is a bold reimagining of 2017’s Ellis/May classic “It's Gonna Be All Right (The Panic Attack Song)” written from a personal standpoint by Brian May long before the world buckled under the heel of the Covid-19, and originally featured on the duo’s Golden Days album.

Sharing how the new version came about, Brian said: “At the close of 2020 there was a feeling that perhaps saying goodbye to that year would bring relief from the pandemic and a new era of hope would now begin. Sadly, following a very muted and restricted celebration of Christmas, the New Year dawned with the realisation that the mankind’s struggle was probably going to get worse before it got better. Kerry and I realised that The Panic Attack song now potentially had a whole new meaning to literally millions of people around the world who felt a growing sense of panic. In the UK, there was definitely a feeling that we had all been cheated of our Happy New Year. So we wanted to mark the occasion in a completely real and transparent way.”

With Brian hurriedly rewriting the lyrics with a new inspiration, a work-in progress version of Panic Attack 21 was first aired via the pair’s ambitious live link-up on Instagram for New Year’s Eve. “We knew it had to be a train wreck because the delays in this link situation make it impossible for two players at opposite ends of it to be synchronised. Nevertheless we went for it - out of sheer stubbornness really - because we wanted to mark the occasion in a completely real and transparent way.”

While technical difficulties did their worst, the performance’s honesty shone through and the sentiment chimed with fans across the world. Buoyed by the messages of approval, Brian and Kerry decided at that point to re-create the track properly with a new studio incarnation of the song.

Of course, with Britain now headed back into another lockdown, getting back into the studio to remake the track was impossible for many weeks. Brian finished the new lyrics and Kerry stepped up to create a new vocal performance recording on the only equipment she had – a microphone hooked up to Garage Band on her laptop in her home kitchen !

By e-mailed updates and Zoom discussions, the pair created a new Panic Attack vocal track, while assembling ideas for a new mix and groundbreaking video. Driving the whole project was a desire to create something that would actually rekindle some hope, reminding listeners that in spite of endless wrong turns – and in the words of the song - things WERE, somehow going to be ALL RIGHT !!!

Finally, after wrestling further with home recording, restrictions were relaxed to the point where Brian and Kerry were able to meet for a couple of days socially distanced work in Brian’s studio. Long-time Queen and BM engineer and co-producer Justin Shirley Smith - himself newly recovered from Covid - worked alongside Brian on extensive new guitar work, including a wild new solo, and a dynamic mix. In a few days, again swapping ideas with Kerry through digital media, the new track was finished.

“I am beyond excited to kick off this year with a song full of hope,” say Kerry. “Putting Panic Attack 2021 together during a lockdown has had its challenges, but that has also been the beauty of it. Music is so powerful and it’s amazing what you can still create with so many restrictions. I hope this song and video gives people as much hope and joy as it did for me and Brian making it. We have all had quite a tough year but remember: ‘it’s gonna be all right!’”