From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Australian film composer, see .
Brian Harold May,
(born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and astrophysicist, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band . He uses a home-built electric guitar, called the . His compositions for the band include "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "" and "".
May was a co-founder of
with lead singer
and drummer , having previously performed with Taylor in the band , which he had joined while he was at university. Within five years of their formation in 1970 and the recruitment of bass player
completing the lineup, Queen had become established as one of the biggest rock bands in Britain with the album
and its single "". From the mid-1970s until the early 1990s, Queen were an almost constant presence in the UK charts and played some of the biggest venues in the world, most notably giving an acclaimed performance at
in 1985. As a member of Queen, May became regarded as a virtuoso musician and he was identified with a distinctive sound created through his layered guitar work. Following the death of Mercury in 1991, Queen were put on hiatus for several years but were eventually reconvened by May and Taylor for further performances featuring other vocalists. In 2005, a
poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked at No. 26 on
magazine's list of the "". In 2012, May was ranked the 2nd greatest guitarist of all time by a
magazine readers poll.
He was appointed a
(CBE) in 2005 for "services to the music industry and for charity work". May attained a PhD in
in 2007 and was
from 2008 to 2013. He was a "science team collaborator" with NASA's
Pluto mission. He is also a co-founder of the awareness campaign, .
May, the only child of Harold and Ruth May, was born in , and attended the local Hampton Grammar School, then a
school (now
and known as ). He is of English and Scottish descent, with his mother being Scots. During this time, he formed his first band, named 1984 after 's , with vocalist and bassist . At Hampton Grammar School, he attained ten
(Physics, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics). He studied Mathematics and Physics at , graduating with a
in Physics with honours.
Main article:
May formed the band
in 1968. The group included
as the lead singer and bassist, and later, drummer , who also went on to play for . The band lasted for only two years, from 1968 to 1970, as Staffell departed in 1970, leaving the band with a catalogue of nine songs. Smile would reunite for several songs on 22 December 1992. Taylor's band
were headliners, and he brought May and Staffell on to play "Earth" and "If I Were a Carpenter". May also performed several other songs that night.
Main article:
May (right) on stage with Queen in 1979.
Queen were formed in London in 1970, consisting of
(lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals),
(bass guitar) and
(drums, vocals).
In Queen's three-part vocal harmonies, May was generally the lower-range backing vocals. On some of his songs, he sings the lead vocals, most notably the first verse of "", the final verse of "", the
on "" and "Flash's Theme", and full lead vocals on "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "" and "Sail Away Sweet Sister".
Throughout Queen's career, May frequently wrote songs for the band and has composed many worldwide hits such as "", "", "", "", "" and "" as well as writing significant hit songs "", "", "", "", "", "", "" and "". Typically, either Mercury or May wrote the most songs on every Queen album.
After the famous
concert in 1985, Mercury rang his band members and proposed writing a song together. The result was "", which was basically May on music (the Magic Years documentary shows how he came up with the opening section and the basic guitar riff) and the lyrics were co-written by all four band members.
For their 1989 release album, , the band had decided that all of the tracks would be credited to the entire band, no matter who had been the main writer. Still, interviews and musical analyses tend to help identify the input of each member on each track. May composed "" for that album, as well as "" (based on his personal problems with the British press). For the rest of the album he did not contribute so much creatively, although he helped in building the basis of "Party" and "Was It All Worth It" (both being predominantly Mercury's pieces) and created the guitar riff of "Chinese Torture".
Queen's subsequent album was , on which May's contributions increased, although more in arrangements than actual w for the
he did some of the arrangement for the heavy solo, then he added vocal harmonies to "" and composed the solo of "", a song for which the four of them decided the keyboard parts together. He changed the tempo and key of Mercury's song "The Hitman" and took it under his wing, even singing guide vocal in the demo. May also co-wrote some of the guitar lines in "".
Two songs that May had composed for his first solo album, "" and "", eventually ended up in the Queen project. His other composition was "", a group effort in which he was the coordinator and primary composer, but in which they all had input, Deacon and Taylor with the famous chord sequence. In recent years, he has supervised the remastering of Queen albums and various DVD and greatest hits releases. In 2004, he announced that he and drummer Roger Taylor were going on tour for the first time in 18 years as "Queen", along with / vocalist . Billed as "", the band has played throughout 2005 and 2006 in South Africa, Europe, Aruba, Japan, and North America and released a new album with Paul Rodgers in 2008, entitled The Cosmos Rocks. This album was supported by a major tour.
May in 1981 with the
During 1983, several members of Queen explored side projects. On 21 and 22 April in Los Angeles, May was in the studio with Eddie Van Halen, with no intentions o the result of those days was a mini album entitled 'Star Fleet Project', which originally wasn't going to be released.
May contributed to former
guitarist 's album , playing guitar on the track "Cassandra" and providing guitar and vocals for "Slot Machine," which was co-written by May. Although produced in 1986, the album was not issued as a commercial release until 2000. May worked with his second wife
on her first album, in which she sang vocals to the
theme tune. In this form, the tune became the song "". May produced the song, which reached No. 4 in the
in August 1986. In 1989, May contributed guitar solos to the song "When Death Calls" on 's 14th album , and the
track "Blow The House Down" from the album .
"After the tragic break-up of any band, it feels impossible to continue but I was really glad that Brian did launch a solo career. He had such a lot of music in him and a great deal more to give"
In the aftermath of the November 1991 death of , May booked himself into a clinic in , "I regarded myself as completely sick. I was wounded and very much in pieces. I went into a serious depression. I was subsumed by feelings of loss." He chose to deal with his grief by committing himself as fully as possible to work, first by finishing his solo album, , and then touring worldwide to promote it. He frequently remarked in press interviews that this was the only form of self-prescribed therapy he could think of. According to
vocalist , "It was undoubtedly an enormous and terrible blow to lose someone he was so close to. Personally, I know it ripped the heart out of Brian, but having said that, he was in great spirits after the album was finished."
In late 1992,
was officially formed. An earlier version of the band was loosely formed for 19 October 1991, the date of the band's last concert of reunion, when May took part in the Guitar Legends guitar festival in , Spain. The line-up for his performance was May on vocals and lead guitar,
on drums and percussion,
on keyboards, and ,
on backing vocals. The original line-up was May on vocals and lead guitar, Powell on drums and percussion,
on guitar,
on bass, and Ryder, Stockley and Thompson on backing vocals. This version of the band lasted only during the South American support tour (supporting
and ) on only five dates.
Afterwards, May made significant changes, feeling the group never quite gelled. May brought guitarist
on board to replace Mike Caswell. The other change made was in the backing vocals department, when Ryder, Stockley and Thompson were replaced with
and . On 23 February 1993, this new line-up of The Brian May Band began its world tour in the US, both supporting
and headlining a few dates. The tour would take them through North America, Europe (support act: Valentine) and Japan. After the tour ended on 18 December 1993, May returned to the studio with fellow surviving Queen band members
to work on tracks that became , the final Queen studio album. The band took Mercury's solo album demos and last recordings, which he managed to perform in the studio after the album
was finished, and completed them with their additions both musically and vocally. Work on the album after Mercury's death originally began in 1992 by Deacon and May, but was left until a later date, due to other commitments.
In 1995, May began working towards a new solo album of covers tentatively named Heroes, in addition to working on various film and television projects and other collaborations. May subsequently changed the approach from covers to focus on those collaborations and on new material. The songs included , and featured mainly , Cozy Powell, Neil Murray and Jamie Moses. On 5 April 1998, Cozy Powell was killed in a car accident on the
near , England. This caused a huge, unexpected disruption to the upcoming tour for The Brian May Band, with a new drummer being needed at short notice.
was brought on to help May finish recording drums and to join the band for the early stage promotional tour of five dates in Europe before the world tour. Following the early promotional tour,
replaced Steve Ferrone for the full 1998 world tour.
May performing in Chile, 2008
From his last solo release in 1998, May has been performing as a solo artist, as part of an ensemble, and infrequently as Queen with . On 22 October 2000, Brian May made a guest appearance at the
25th Anniversary show at
along with
guitarist) for the encore song "". In the Queen's birthday honours list of 2005, he was made a Commander of the
"for services to the music industry". May is a friend of singer and musician
and was a celebrity guest at the
reunion concert at
in 2007. The two had worked together at
Rock Gala in 1988 and when Collins had played drums with Queen at the
in 2002. In 2011 he contributed to a feature about Collins for , praising him as "a great guy and an amazing drummer".
May worked extensively with stage actress and singer , after he cast her in the musical . He produced and arranged her debut studio album
(2010), a follow-up to her extended play
(2008), as well as appearing with Ellis at many public performances – playing guitar alongside her. He also contributed a guitar solo to 's
album in exchange for the use of drummer . Along with , Brian May released a historical book in 2009 entitled . The book is an annotated collection of stereoscopic photographs taken by the
photographer
and it is sold with a focussing stereoscope. May became an enthusiast of stereoscope photographs as a child, and first encountered the work of Williams during the late 1960s. In 2003, May announced a search to identify the actual location of the Scenes in Our Village images. In 2004 May reported that he had identified the location as the village of
in Oxfordshire.
On 20 May 2009, May and Queen band mate Roger Taylor performed "We Are the Champions" live on the season finale of
with winner
and runner-up
providing a vocal duet. In November 2009, May appeared with Taylor on , with Queen mentoring the contestants, then later performing "Bohemian Rhapsody". In April 2010, May founded the "Save Me" 2010 project to work against any proposed repeal of the British fox-hunting ban, and also to promote animal rights in Britain. In February 2011 it was announced that May would tour with , playing 12 dates across the UK in May 2011. On 1 March 2013 May and Ellis played a free thirty-minute acoustic set at
to launch Tiger Track, a three-week tiger conservation event. Their set list included Queen's "".
On 18 April 2011,
confirmed that May would play guitar on her track "" from her latest album , released on 23 May 2011. In June 2011, May performed with
on , celebrating the 50th anniversary of 's first spaceflight.
On 26 August, May performed "" and "" with American rock band
at the . On 28 August, May performed "You and I" live with Lady Gaga at the
at the Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles. On 10 October, May made an appearance to celebrate the reunion of British rock band
at an "intimate"
show with support from . A long-time fan of the group, May performed three songs onstage with The Darkness, including Queen's "", at the
on their subsequent "comeback" tour.
on 6 November, Queen received the , which
presented to Brian May. Queen closed the awards ceremony, with
on vocals, performing "The Show Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions". The collaboration garnered a positive response from both fans and critics, resulting in speculation about future projects together. Queen + Adam Lambert played two shows at the , London on 11 and 12 July 2012. Both shows sold out within 24 hours of tickets going on open sale. A third London date was added for 14 July. On 30 June, Queen + Lambert performed in , Ukraine at a joint concert with
for the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. Queen also performed with Lambert on 3 July 2012 at Moscow's , and on 7 July 2012 at the
in Wroclaw, Poland.
In January 2012, May featured on
frontman 's solo single "", providing "rumbling guitar riffs which culminate in an electrifying solo". The pair also collaborated on a performance of "" for 's .
On 12 August 2012, Queen performed at the
in London. May performed part of the "" solo before being joined by Taylor and solo artist
for a performance of "We Will Rock You". On 16 September 2012, May appeared at the Sunflower Jam charity concert at the , performing alongside bassist
(of ), drummer
(of ), and vocalists
(of ) and . On 20 September 2013, Queen + Lambert performed at the
in Las Vegas.
Main article:
At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with
(founder and former lead singer of
and ). Brian May's website also stated that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as , not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.
Between 2005 and 2006 Queen and Paul Rodgers embarked on a , the first leg being Europe and the second, Japan and the US in 2006. On 25 May 2006, Queen received the inaugural
in , Nevada, and May and Taylor were joined on stage with the
to perform a selection of Queen songs. On 15 August 2006, May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at a "secret location". The album, titled , was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008. Following the album the band again embarked on a tour through Europe and parts of the US, opening on
in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans. The show in Ukraine was later . Queen and Paul Rodgers officially split up on 12 May 2009. Rodgers does not rule out the possibility of working together again.
Main article:
Not long after performing with
during the programme's season finale in 2009, May and Taylor began contemplating the future of Queen after the group's amicable split with frontman Paul Rodgers. Two years later, at the , Queen was presented that year's Global Icon Award, accepted by May. As part of the broadcast, Queen performed a short set with Lambert, receiving an overwhelmingly welcoming response. Speculation regarding a collaboration with Lambert soon arose, with the three formally announcing a short summer tour of Europe in 2012, including three dates at the
in London, as well as shows in Ukraine, Russia and Poland. As with the partnership with Paul Rodgers,
did not participate.
The collaboration was revived in 2013, when the three performed together at the
in Las Vegas on 20 September. Five months later, May, Taylor and Lambert announced a 19-date summer tour of North America on . Due to ticket demand, five dates were soon added. In May 2014, shows in Australia and New Zealand were announced, along with festival performances in South Korea and Japan. The tour was extended to the UK and greater Europe in early 2015. The group performed together in South America in September 2015, including Queen's first performance at the
Festival since 1985.
Though the collaboration remains active, there are currently no plans of recording a studio album, though the three are willing to do so in the future.
May donated his guitar talent to the end credits song from the film, , in the song One Voice, which also features the talents of , , , , , and . It was produced by Dean Falcone, who also wrote the film's score. One Voice was released on , April 16, 2016, with profits from the sale of the single going to benefit animal charities.
May performing in Frankfurt in 2005.
Brian May began composing in 1968 to 1969, and through the years he has collaborated with other songwriters, including Frank Musker, with whom he wrote "", and with Elizabeth Lamers, whose music won the
for Best Song Musically & Lyrically in 1996. A meticulous arranger, he focuses on multi-part harmonies, often more
than parallel – a relative rarity for rock guitar. Examples are found in Queen's albums A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races, where he arranged a jazz band for guitar mini-orchestra ("Good Company"), a vocal canon ("The Prophet's Song") and guitar and vocal counterpoints ("").
May explored a wide variety of styles in guitar, including
("", "Chinese Torture"),
("", "", "", "", "", "", ""),
("", "", "", "Cyborg", "Rain Must Fall", "Business", "China Belle", "I Was Born To Love You"), slide guitar ("Drowse", "Tie Your Mother Down"),
sounding licks ("", "Brighton Rock"), tape-delay ("Brighton Rock", "White Man") and melodic sequences ("", "", ""). Some of his solos and orchestral parts were composed by , who then asked May to bring them to life ("Bicycle Race", "", "Killer Queen", ""). May also performed notable acoustic works, including the acoustic guitar live version of "" from 1975's A Night at the Opera, the finger-picked solo of "White Queen" and the -influenced "'39".
In January 2007, the readers of
voted May's guitar solos "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Brighton Rock" into the "top 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time" ("Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted No. 20 and "Brighton Rock" was voted #41).
Aided by the uniqueness of his guitar – the  – May was often able to create strange and unusual sound effects. For example, he was able to imitate an orchestra in the song ""; in "" he was able to create various sound eff in "" he used his guitar to mimic a trombone, a piccolo and several other instruments for the song's Dixieland jazz band feel. Queen used a "No synthesizers were used on this album" sleeve note on their early albums to make this clear to the listeners. May also used his guitar to create the chime effect in Bohemian Rhapsody.
The first instrument May learned to play was the , which he played on Queen's song "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" (live and in the studio). For "Good Company", he used a regular baritone ukulele which he had bought in Hawaii on a holiday. Occasionally, May would also record on other string instruments such as harp (one chord per take, then copied and pasted by the engineer to make it sound like a continuous performance) and bass (on some demos and many songs in his solo career, and the Queen + Paul Rodgers album).
As a child, he was also trained on classical piano. Although Freddie Mercury was the band's primary pianist, May would occasionally step in (such as on "", "", ""). From 1979 onwards, he also played synthesisers, organ ("Wedding March", "") and programmed drum-machines for both Queen and outside projects (such as producing other artists and his own solo records).
May is also an accomplished singer. From Queen's
to , May contributed lead vocals to at least one song per album. May co-composed a mini-opera with , Il Colosso, for 's 1996 film, . May performed the opera with , , and . On-screen, it was performed entirely by puppets.
"He's a class act from head to toe, and it shows in his playing. I can listen to any player and pantomime their sound, but I can't do Brian May. He's just walking on higher ground."
"His tone immediately grabbed me. Brian has his own style and sound, so you can always tell his work. Even in 1971 he had incredible finesse, amazing fluidity."
Brian May has been referred to as a virtuoso guitarist by many publications and musicians. He has featured in various music polls of great rock guitarists, and in 2011 was ranked number 26 on
magazine's list of the "". Former
stated, "I thought Queen were really innovative and made some great sounding records.. I like the rockin' stuff. I think Brian May has one of the great guitar tones on the planet, and I really, really love his guitar work." May mainly used the "", which he designed when he was only 16 years old. It was built with wood from an 18th century fireplace. His comments on the guitar:
"I like a big neck – thick, flat and wide. I lacquered the fingerboard with Rustin's Plastic Coating. The tremolo is interesting in that the arm's made from an old bicycle saddle bag carrier, the knob at the end's off a knitting needle and the springs are valve springs from an old motorbike."
— Brian May
In addition to using his home-made guitar he prefers to use coins (especially
from the farewell proof set of 1970), instead of a more traditional plastic , on the basis that their rigidity gives him more control in playing. He is known to carry coins in his pockets specifically for this purpose.
May's early influences were
and , who he says were "the most metallic thing(s) out at the time." Many years later he gained his opportunity to play on separate occasions with both Cliff Richard and Shadows lead guitarist . He has collaborated with Cliff Richard on a re-recording of the Cliff Richard and The Shadows (then known as The Drifters) 1958 hit "" on the Cliff Richard duets album Two's Company which was released on 6 November 2006.
Brian May always stated that , ,
were the greatest influences on him. On 2 June 2010, on BBC Radio 2, Brian May said, "I wou he is one of the people who inspired me most." On Queen for an Hour 1989 Interview on BBC Radio 1, May listed ,
as his guitar heroes. In a 1991 interview for Guitar World magazine, May referred to
as "my inspiration", and on seeing
stated, "We used to look at those guys and think, "That's the way it should be done." May told
in 2004: "I don't think anyone has epitomised
writing better than
– he's one of the great brains of rock music". May was also influenced by , guitarist of
band , in particular his harmony guitar solo at the end of the band's epic 1971 song "".
While May and his father were building the , May also produced plans to build a second guitar. However, so successful was the Red Special, that May had no need to build another guitar. These plans were eventually given to guitar
Andrew Guyton in around 2004/05, some slight modifications were made and the guitar was built. It was named "The Spade", as the shape of the body resembled the form shown on playing cards. However the guitar also came to be known as "The Guitar That Time Forgot".
Most of May's electric guitar work live and in the studio was done on the , which he built with his father, an electronics engineer, during his teenage years. From 1975 onwards, he has also had some replicas made, some of which were also used for live and recording purposes, others were mainly spares. The most famous replicas were made by John Birch in 1975 (May actually smashed it during a concert in the States in 1982),
BM90 (featured in the promo video of "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" in 1977), Guild (back-up from 1984 to 1993), Fryers (, used both live and in the studio) and Guyton (back-up from 2003 to present). On stage, May used to carry at least one back-up guitar (in case he broke a string) and occasionally would use others for certain songs or parts, such as alternate tunings. Currently, May owns a company which makes guitars whose design is modelled after the original Red Special guitar.
July ;– May 1974:
CBS era (thought to be a 1972)
October ;– May 1975:
Deluxe, and the Stratocaster from the previous tour.
November ;– May 1976: Same two guitars as before, plus a natural finish John Birch replica of the Red Special.
September 1976: Same three as before, plus a Martin D-18 acoustic for "'39".
January ;– August 1979: Just the Birch replica plus an Ovation Pacemaker 12-string acoustic on some numbers ("'39", "Love of My Life", "Dreamer's Ball").
November ;– June 1982: Birch replica (back-up),
("Crazy Little Thing Called Love" 2nd verse, middle-eight and solo), Ovation (acoustic numbers).
July – November 1982: Added a
as second back-up. On 9 August 1982 Brian smashed the Birch guitar, so the Flying V became the only spare.
August – October 1984: The Flying V became a second back-up again as his main spare was the Guild replica. He also used Roger Taylor's Gibson Chet-Atkins Classical Electric.
July ;– August 1986: Gibson Flying V no longer used. The rest remained the same.
In 2012 he received a double-neck replica of the Red Special with the second neck having 12-strings. He used this guitar at a few gigs with
now being able to play the 12-string part from the studio version of Under Pressure live.
He currently has a Guild 12-string to replace his Ovation Pacemaker. Some of the non-RS electric guitars he used in the studio included:
Double Six on "Long Away" (1976) and "Under Pressure" (1981).
Fender Telecaster on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (1979). It was used for the video (but not the recordings) of "Back Chat" (1982).
Gibson Firebird on "Hammer to Fall" and "Tear It Up" (album versions only, not on stage).
on "Nothing But Blue" (1991).
on "Mother Love" ().
For acoustic, he favoured Ovation, Martin,
Hummingbird, Godin and Guild. On a couple of videos he also used some different electric guitars: a Stratocaster copy on "Play the Game" (1980) and a
on "Princes of the Universe" (1986).
released the first official Red Special replica for mass production, and made some prototypes specifically for May. However the solid body construction (the original RS has hollow cavities in the body) and the pick-ups (DiMarzio) that were not an exact replica of the Burns TriSonic did not make May happy, so the production stopped after just 300 guitars. In 1993 Guild made a second replica of the RS, made in just ;copies, of which May has some and used as a back-up. At the moment, he uses the two guitars made by Greg Fryer—the luthier who restored the Old Lady in 1998—as back-up. They are almost identical to the original, except for the Fryer logo on the headstock (May's original one has a sixpence).
In the studio, May used
synths for the opening sequence of "" and the backgrounds of "" (also on stage), "" and . He mostly used Freddie Mercury's 1972 Steinway piano and reportedly now owns the instrument in question. May was keen on using some toys as instruments as well. He used a
plastic piano in "" and a toy mini
in . He also used a "genuine George Formby Ukulele-Banjo" in "" and .
May has used
amplifiers almost exclusively since a meeting with his long-time hero
at a gig in London during the late 1960s/early 1970s. In the mid-1970s he used six of them, with an
delay (with extended delay time) plugged into a separate amplifier, and a second Echoplex plugged
he used a homemade booster, his only effects pedal, which was on all the time. His choice is the model AC30TBX, the top-boost version with Blue Alnico speakers, and he runs the amp at full volume on the Normal channel. He also customises his amps by removing the circuitry for the Brilliant and Vib-trem channels (leaving only the circuitry for the Normal), and this alters the tone slightly, with a gain addition of 6–7 dB. He always used a
which, along with the AC30 and his custom '' transistor amp, built by Queen bass player John Deacon, went a long way in helping to create many of his signature guitar tones. He used the Dallas Rangemaster for the first Queen albums, up to . Effects guru
built for him the TB-83 (32 dB of gain) that was used for all the remaining Queen albums. He switched in 2000 to the Fryer's booster, which actually gives less boost than the TB-83.
When performing live, he uses banks of Vox AC30 amplifiers keeping some amps with only guitar and others with all effects such as delay, flanger and chorus. He has a rack of 14 AC30s, which are grouped as Normal, Chorus, Delay 1, Delay 2. On his pedal board, May has a custom switch unit made by Cornish and subsequently modified by Fryer that allows him to choose which amps are active. He uses a
pedal from the '70s, the Chorus Ensemble CE-1, which can be heard in "" () or "" (slow version played live with P. Rodgers). Next in the chain, he uses a Foxx Foot Phaser ("We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions", "Keep Yourself Alive", etc.), and two delay machines to play his trademark solo in "Brighton Rock".
Brian May in 2010
From 1974 to 1988, May was married to Chrissie Mullen and they had children: James (aka Jimmy), born on 15 June 1978; Louisa, born on 22 May 1981 and Emily Ruth, born on 18 February 1987. May and Chrissie separated in 1988. Their separation and eventual divorce was publicised by British tabloid newspapers following reports that he had an affair with
actress , whom he met in 1986, and who gained fame in the 1980s as . After a concert at , she inspired him to write the 1989 hit "I Want It All". They married on 18 November 2000.
He has stated in interviews that he suffered from severe depression in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to the point of contemplating suicide, for reasons having to do with his troubled first marriage, his perceived failure as a husband and a father, his father Harold's death and Freddie Mercury's illness and death.
May's father Harold worked as a
and was a long-time heavy cigarette smoker. As a result, May dislikes smoking, even to the point where he has prohibited smoking indoors at his more recent concerts. His father was disappointed that he abandoned his scientific education to become a rock musician, but after May flew both his parents to New York to attend Queen's first concert in , his father said that he "got it". According to
he is worth ?85 million or around $135 million as of 2011.
Brian May is a vegetarian.
May has homes in
and , . He is an active
advocate, and was appointed a vice-president of animal welfare charity, the , in September 2012.
Brian May 2015 at
May studied physics and mathematics at , graduating with a BSc (Hons) degree and
in physics with . From 1970 to 1974, he studied for a PhD degree at Imperial College, studying reflected light from interplanetary dust and the velocity of dust in the plane of the Solar System. When Queen started to have international success in 1974, he abandoned his doctoral studies, but co-authored two scientific research papers, which were based on his observations at the
In October 2006, May re-registered for his PhD at Imperial College and submitted his thesis in August 2007 (one year earlier than he estimated it would take to complete). As well as writing up the previous work he had done, May had to review the work on zodiacal dust undertaken during the intervening 33 years, which included the discovery of the zodiacal dust bands by 's
satellite. After a , the revised thesis (entitled A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud) was approved in September 2007, some 37 years after it had been commenced. He was able to submit his thesis only because of the minimal amount of research on the topic during the intervening years and has described the subject as one that became "trendy" again in the 2000s. He graduated at the awards ceremony of Imperial College held in the
on 14 May 2008.
In October 2007, May was appointed a Visiting Researcher in Imperial College and continues his interest in astronomy and involvement with the Imperial Astrophysics Group.
He is co-author, with
and , of Bang! – The Complete History of the Universe (published in 2006) and "The Cosmic Tourist" (published in 2012).
was named in his honour on 18 June 2008 on the suggestion of
(probably influenced by the asteroid's provisional designation of 1998 BM30).
In 2014, May co-founded
astronaut ,
COO Danica Remy and German filmmaker .
is a global awareness campaign where people from around the world come together to learn about asteroids and what we can do to protect our planet.
May appeared on the 700th episode of
hosted by Sir Patrick Moore, along with Chris Lintott, , Prof. , and the
who on departing the panel, told Brian May, who was joining it, "I don't know a scientist who looks as much like
as you do". May was also a guest on the first episode of the third series of the BBC's , on 8 January 2013.
On 17 November 2007, May was appointed Chancellor of , and installed in 2008. He held the post until 2013.
During the
Pluto flyby NASA press conference held on 17 July 2015 at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, Brian May was introduced as a science team collaborator. He told the panel "You have inspired the world."
May filming for the 's The One Show in 2011 for an anti badger culling campaign.
Brian May has formed a group to promote animal welfare. Though a
voter most of his life, he has stated that their policies on
meant he did not vote for them at the . His group,
(named after ), campaigns for the protection of all animals against unnecessary, cruel and with a particular emphasis on preventing hunting of foxes and the culling of badgers. The group's primary concern is to ensure that the
and other laws protecting animals are retained in situ.
In an interview in September 2010 with
for the BBC's
program, May said that he would rather be remembered for his animal rights work than for his music or scientific work. May is a staunch supporter of the , the , the ,
and the Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue.
In March 2012, May contributed the foreword to a target paper published by the think tank the , urging the government to reconsider its plans to cull thousands of badgers to control , stating that the findings of Labour's major badger culling trials, several years earlier, show that culling does not work. The paper was authored by Graham Godwin-Pearson with contributions by leading
scientists, including .
In 2013, Brian May joined French guitar player
for a charity Danel launched to the benefit of animal rights in France. The guitarists signed guitars and art photos together, and were joined by .
In May 2013, May teamed up with actor
cartoonist , as well as animal rights groups including the RSPCA, to form "Team Badger", a "coalition of organisations that have teamed up to fight the planned cull of badgers". With Weebl and Blessed, May recorded a single,
of Weebl's viral 2003 Flash cartoon , , and Queen's , featuring vocals by Blessed. Weebl animated
on , parodying both Weebl's
and a scene from , a film featuring music by Queen, and in which Blessed played Prince Vultan. On 1 September 2013, Save The Badger Badger Badger charted at No. 79 on the , No. 39 on the UK
chart and No. 1 on the
Rock chart.
Prior to the , it was reported that May was considering standing as an . It was also revealed that May had started a "Common Decency" project "to re-establish common decency in our lives, work and Parliament". May said he wanted to "get rid of the current government" and wished to see a
containing "individuals voting according to their conscience". May was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the 's
at the election. He also endorsed a Conservative Party candidate, , on the grounds of his animal welfare record.
In July 2015, May criticized British prime minister
for giving Members of Parliament a free vote on amending the ban on fox hunting in England and Wales. During a live television interview, he also attacked the pro-hunting organisation the
as "a bunch of lying bastards" for their support for a change to the law. The vote was postponed by the government following the intervention of the 's Westminster MPs, who committed to vote to keep the ban as it existed. May told anti-hunt protesters in a rally outside Parliament that it was "a very, very important day for our democracy" but added "we have not yet won the war, there's no room for complacency".
A new damselfly species of the genus Heteragrion (Odonata : Zygoptera) from Brazil was named Heteragrion brianmayi in honour of him.
May has had a lifelong interest in collecting Victorian . In 2009, with co-author Elena Vidal, he published his second book, , on the work of English stereophotography innovator . He was awarded The 's Saxby Medal in 2012 for achievement in the field of three-dimensional imaging.
May made a significant technical contribution to the book to accompany the exhibition 'Stereoscopic Photographs of Pablo Picasso by ', held at the
in , UK from February 2014 to June 2014. The book provides a cross-section of photographs of Picasso in his studio, at the bullfight at
and in his garden. May's 3D 'Owl viewer' is used to view the photographs in 3D.
The purchase of his first card in 1973 started May on a lifelong and world-wide search for , which are stereoscopic photographs depicting scenes of daily life in Hell. On 10 October 2013 the book Diableries: Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell by Brian May, Denis Pellerin and Paula Fleming was published.
With Queen
Main article:
"" (1973) vocal bridge with Taylor, rest sung by Mercury
"Some Day, One Day" (1974)
"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)" (1974)
"" (1978) chorus vocals
"Leaving Home Ain't Easy" (1978)
"Sail Away Sweet Sister" (1980) Mercury sings the bridge
"" (1980) with Freddie Mercury
"Put Out the Fire" lead on falsetto lines
"" (1982) harmony vocals on chorus
"I Go Crazy" (1984) lead bridge vocals
"" (1986) first verse, harmony and other lines throughout
"I Want It All" (1989) with Mercury
"Lost Opportunity" (1991)
"Mother Love" (1995) lead vocals on final verse
"" (1995) lead vocals on third verse
"" (1997) with Taylor
Solo discography
Main article:
(2000) soundtrack
Hicks, T. R.; May, B. H.; Reay, N. K. (1972). "MgI Emission in the Night Sky Spectrum". Nature 240 (5381): 401–402. :. :.
Hicks, T. R.; May, B. H.; Reay, N. K. (1974). "An investigation of the motion of zodiacal dust particles-1. Radial velocity measurements on Fraunhofer line profiles".
166: 439–448. :. :.
May, B Moore, P Lintott, Chris (2006). Bang! The Complete History of the Universe. Carlton.  .
May, Brian Harold (2008).
(PhD thesis). New York: Springer. :.  .
May, B Moore, P Lintott, Chris (2012). The Cosmic Tourist. Carlton.  .
May, B Bradley, Simon (2014). Brian May's Red Special. Prion Books.  .
May, B Vidal, Elena.
(book with stereoscopic viewer). .  .
. 10 July .
. Rolling Stone 2014.
. News.bbc.co.uk 2014.
. BBC. 14 April .
. BBC. 9 February .
Huntman, Ruth (17 October 2014). . The Guardian 2014.
Hodkinson, Mark (1995). Queen: The Early Years. Omnibus Press. p. 40.  .
. Brian's Soapbox. 13 September 2014.
. Telegraph.co.uk. 22 May .
. riaus.org.au
. AllMusic 2014.
. Ultimatequeen.co.uk 2014.
"ANITA DOBSON AND BRIAN MAY SURPRISE WEDDING". , 5 December 2000, republished at . . Retrieved 22 May 2010.
Roberts, David (2006). . London: Guinness World Records Limited
Jackson, Laura (2011). . Hachette. Retrieved 26 April 2012
. Mail Online 2014.
Horne, Nicky. . Queen.musichall.cz 2011.
. Ultimatequeen.co.uk 2014.
Buckley, Peter (2003). "The Rough Guide to Rock". p.837. Rough Guides, 2003
: . 11 June 2005.
Negrin, David. . World of Genesis 2015.
Fitzpatrick, Rob. "'I'm The Antichrist of Music' Immensely popular for decades, yet a permanent resident on music's outermost fringes of fashionability, Phil Collins would like to apologise. Are you ready to forgive?". . April 2011.
Kaufman, Gil (20 May 2009). . MTV 2012.
. Save-me.org.uk. Duck Productions 2011.
. Ultimatequeen.co.uk 2014.
. Daily Mail (London). 1 March 2013.
Rainbird, Ashley (18 April 2011). . Daily Mirror (UK) 2011.
. The Official Queen Website (Press release).
. <. 26 August .
. . 11 October 2011.
. Planet Music Reviews. 13 October 2011.
. Blabber Mouth. 26 December 2011.
. MTV AUSTRALIA 2014.
. BBC News 2014.
. 12 April .
. Billboard. 9 April .
. 19 April .
. Ultimate Classic Rock 2014.
. 28 February .
. 27 April .
. . 18 January 2012.
. . 16 February 2012.
. BBC. 27 February 2012.
. Capital. 12 August .
. Telegraph.co.uk. 12 August .
. <. 17 September .
. . 15 July .
. Ultimatequeen.co.uk 2014.
May, Brian (15 August 2006). .[]
. Dailyrecord.co.uk 2014.
. . 13 May 2009. Archived from
on 29 May .
. . 14 May 2009. Archived from
on 29 May .
. ABC News 2015.
. Rolling Stone 2015.
. Aria Charts 2015.
. Stuff.co.nz 2015.
. QueenOnline 2015.
. QueenOnline 2015.
. QueenOnline 2015.
. BlabberMouth.net 2015.
Tribbey, Ralph (). . DVD & Blu-Ray Release Report.
Cunningham, Mark (October 1995). . Sound on Sound. Retrieved 23 May 2012
on , Retrieved 28 December 2012.
. Mail Online 2014.
"Queen". . 2007.
Sharpe-Young, Garry. . Rockdetector.
Coleman, Mark (9 October 1986). . Rolling Stone (484).
Donaghy, James (17 February 2007). . The Guardian (London) 2010.
Phil Sutcliffe, Peter Hince, Reinhold Mack
p.164. Voyageur Press, 2009
May, Brian (2004). .
Mick St. Michael (1992). "Queen in Their Own Words". p.62. Omnibus Press, 1992
Laura Jackson (2011).
Hachette UK, 2011
. AllMusic 2014.
Prato, Greg (18 July 2012). .
. Intellectualonly-mercury.ru 2011.
"Whole lotta riffs". . Issue 247. March 2004.
. Inside Out Music. .
. dmme.net. January .
David McNamee. . the Guardian 2014.
The Music Biz (1992). Retrieved 19 August 2011
. Songwritershalloffame.org 2014.
. . Archived from
on 3 February .
Simon Bradley. .
Rick Wakeman's Face To Face interview programme, available
"Pro's Reply: Brian May". . August 1975. p.&#160;154. (repr. January 2014)
. Brianmaycentral.net 2014.
. Mail Online 2014.
May, Brian.
. <. 19 June .
May, Brian (6 February 2006). . Brian's Soapbox Feb&#160;06 2008.[]
. Queen News June&#160;2008 (REGNUM News Agency). 19 June .
Johnston, Jenny (25 April 2010). . Daily Mail (UK) 2011.
. This is Money 2014.
. Daily Mail Online. 28 August 2012.
Cooke, Rachel (5 September 2010). . The Guardian (London) 2010.
. Farmers Weekly 2014.
Hicks, May and Reay ,
Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Series 21. Episode 10. 25 minutes in. BBC.
May, Brian. .[]
. BBC News. 3 August .
. BBC News. 23 August .
. BBC News. 9 March .
Dr. Stuart Clark.
Anthony, Andrew (13 March 2011). . London: The Guardian 2012.
. Ljmu.ac.uk. Liverpool John Moores University. 23 November 2007. Archived from
on 6 September .
. BBC News. 14 April .
. BBC News. 9 June 2010.
May, Brian (12 July 2010). . The Guardian (London).
on , , 22 September 2010.
. Bow Publishing. 25 March 2012. Archived from
on 28 April .
Barkham, Patrick (26 March 2012). . London: The Guardian 2012.
. . 3 April .
. Teambadger.org.uk 2014.
Selby, Jenn (4 February 2015). . The Independent 2015.
Elgot, Jessica (24 April 2015). . The Guardian (London) 2015.
. Crawley News. 27 March .
Dathan, Matt (10 July 2015). . The Independent 2015.
Beamen, Emily (14 July 2015). . The Independent 2015.
Lencioni, F.A.A. (9 July 2013).
(PDF). Zootaxa. Magnolia Press – Auckland, New Zealand 2015.
Kennedy, Randy (25 July 2010). . .
. Rps.org. Archived from
on 31 December .
. MOJO 2014.
. Telegraph.co.uk. 25 October .
Wikimedia Commons has media related to .
Famous musician scientists
Academic offices
Preceded&#160;by
Succeeded&#160;by
: Hidden categories:}