Brian May, lead guitarist of the rock band Queen, landed in a hospital after ripping the muscles in his glutes "to shreds".

The 72-year-old musician posted a photo and video on Instagram to make the announcement, reports variety.com.

"As well as getting over-stretched and harassed by too many demands, I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening," he wrote.

The guitarist added that he is still waiting to find out how serious the injury is. He added that he is in constant pain and needs help walking.

"Suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I've actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job — this is a couple of days ago — and I won't be able to walk for a while or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless," he wrote.

Later, May posted a few videos of himself playing the guitar and talking about the UK's response to the COVID-19 crisis.