Brian May

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Brian May plays on the Red Special (1979)

Brian Harold May , CBE (born July 19, 1947 in Hampton , Middlesex , now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames ) is a British guitarist , composer , singer , astrophysicist , non-fiction author and animal rights activist . He is best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Queen .

May was a founding member of Queen along with lead singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor , having previously played with Taylor in Smile . After bassist John Deacon completed the line- up , Queen established themselves as one of the leading British rock bands . From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, Queen was almost constantly on the UK music charts . With Queen May achieved worldwide fame as a virtuoso musician. His typical stylistic devices include the feedback and the echo effect of his self-made guitar Red Special . The use of coins instead of a plectrum also shaped Queen's typical guitar sound. May's compositions for the band include We Will Rock You , Tie Your Mother Down , I Want It All , Fat Bottomed Girls , Flash , Hammer to Fall , Save Me , Who Wants to Live Forever and The Show Must Go On .

After Mercury's death in 1991, May pursued a solo career until he revived Queen with Taylor and guest singers. After three and a half decades, May returned to London's Imperial College to complete his doctoral thesis on radial velocities in interplanetary dust , which was accepted in 2007. From 2008 to 2013 he was Honorary Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University . May is an animal rights activist and has been Vice President of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals since 2012 .

biography

Family and early years

Father Harold May was an electrical engineer and served in the Royal Air Force during World War II . He then worked as a draftsman for the British Ministry of Aviation and was involved in the development of the Concorde . Mother Ruth May came from Scotland . The family lived in Feltham , a western suburb of London in the county of Middlesex . Brian May was an only child, liked to do handicrafts and showed musical talent early on, which his parents encouraged with piano lessons. When he was six, his father taught him the basics of playing the banjolele, a combination of the banjo and ukulele that was invented by George Formby Jr. in the 1930s . had become popular in Britain.

On his seventh birthday, May received his first own instrument, a Spanish acoustic guitar . For this he built a single-coil - pickups , to mimic an electrical sound, where it on the radio the family as amplifiers used. He played songs on records and thus improved his own skills as a guitar player. May also began to be interested in the stars and the night sky and made a small telescope .

After attending elementary school on Hanworth Road in Feltham, May joined the Grammar School in Hampton at the age of eleven , supported by a scholarship he had received for his excellent academic achievements. He soon noticed that his acoustic guitar no longer met his requirements. Since electric guitars were expensive, he got the idea to build one himself. Together with his father, he began building the Red Special, which later became famous, in August 1963 . It was created from objects that could be found in the Mays house, parts of an old motorcycle, an oak board and a mahogany fireplace paneling that was over a hundred years old . They made the tremolo out of a bread knife. All he had to do was buy the Burns pickups. After 18 months the guitar was finished.

The first bands: 1984 and Smile (1964–1970)

In the fall of 1964, May formed a band with Tim Staffell and other classmates called 1984, named after the novel of the same name by George Orwell . Their first performance was on October 28th at St Mary's Hall in Twickenham . In the following three years they had numerous appearances in pubs, clubs and schools, playing a mixture of musical styles by Sam & Dave and Otis Redding . May graduated from Grammar School with the General Certificate of Education , in the subjects of physics , mathematics and applied physics with the advanced level . He wanted to become an astronomer and began studying physics and infrared astronomy at London's Imperial College in the fall of 1965 . On May 13, 1967, 1984 played at Imperial College as the opening act for Jimi Hendrix , on December 23 of the same year they appeared together with Tyrannosaurus Rex , The Herd , Jimi Hendrix, Traffic and Pink Floyd at a Christmas festival at the Olympia Theater .

In early 1968 the band broke up. The decisive factors were musical differences and the fact that May needed more time for his studies. Among other things, he managed the construction of a small refuge on the Testa Grigia near Zermatt in Switzerland in order to store devices for observing the zodiacal light . He spent some time there, but because of the persistent bad weather, the hut and the equipment were soon brought to Tenerife and set up on the Teide . May received an offer from Professor Bernard Lovell to support him in his research at the Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory . After a long hesitation, he declined because he wanted to stay in London in order to develop musically.

In the autumn of 1968 May and Staffell formed the band Smile . They were joined by the dentistry student Roger Taylor as a drummer. May graduated and received a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree from the Queen Mother on October 24, 1968 at a ceremony in the Royal Albert Hall . Two days later, Smile had their first concert at Imperial College, supporting Pink Floyd. About Staffell, May and Taylor met the art student Farrokh "Freddie" Bulsara ( Freddie Mercury ) know, who supported the band as a fan and helped shape their appearance. A record deal for an album did not materialize. Staffell split from the band in early 1970, which caused Smile to cease to exist.

1970–1991: Worldwide success with Queen and solo projects

In April 1970, May, Taylor and Mercury formed the band Queen . After they had to change bassists several times, they met the budding electrical engineer John Deacon , which completed the line- up in February 1971. Through an acquaintance, May managed to organize studio time for demo recordings in September 1971: For several months they were able to work in the newly opened De Lane Lea Studios under professional conditions, which paved the way for their first record deal . In July 1973 the debut album Queen was released.

Brian May (1977)

May continued to work on his dissertation in his free time , and he also gave private tutoring at Imperial College. In September 1973 he took a part-time position as an English teacher at a comprehensive school in south-east London for a few months . In May 1974, Queen had to cancel part of their US tour because May was diagnosed with hepatitis from using non-sterile vaccination needles and spent several weeks in hospital. The following US tour was also canceled because he had to undergo surgery in July 1974 for a duodenal ulcer . Regardless of this, Queen made their international breakthrough and became one of the world's most famous rock bands. May decided to finally stop working on his dissertation. This led temporarily to a dispute with his father, who accused him of throwing away his education; after two years, however, they were reconciled.

In April 1983, when the band members with various solo projects were engaged to May met in a studio in Los Angeles with Eddie Van Halen and other musicians. The songs resulting from the jam session , which were initially only recorded for private use, were released six months later on the mini-album Star Fleet Project . In the same year he produced the album Lettin Loose by the Scottish band Heavy Pettin together with Reinhold Mack . In 1987 he produced the album Cancel by Japanese singer Minako Honda and wrote two songs for her. In the same year May produced the album Talking of Love for Anita Dobson (his future second wife) , for which he also wrote most of the songs. Also in 1987 he produced the self-titled album for the comedy metal band Bad News .; the single Anyone Can Fall in Love reached number 4 in the UK singles chart.

May said in interviews that he suffered from major depression in the late 1980s and early 1990s . The reasons he cited were his troubled marriage, his supposed failure as a husband and father, and the death of his father. After the death of Freddie Mercury on November 24, 1991, he considered suicide. He admitted himself to a clinic in Arizona and said, “I considered myself completely sick. I was hurt and broken. I fell into serious depression. I was overwhelmed by feelings of loss. ”In order to come to terms with his grief, he put a lot of work into completing his solo album Back to the Light and going on a promotional tour around the world. This was the only self-therapy conceivable for him. This included helping to organize the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in honor of the late Queen singer, which took place on April 20, 1992 at Wembley Stadium .

1992-1998: The Brian May Band

In late 1992 May formed the Brian May Band , which supported him on solo tours. Over the years she has included several renowned musicians including Cozy Powell , Mike Moran , Neil Murray , Spike Edney , Jamie Moses , Miriam Stockley and Chris Thompson . During part of the US tour in 1993, the Brian May Band was the opening act for Guns n 'Roses . In late December 1993, May returned to the studio to work with the remaining Queen members Roger Taylor and John Deacon on the album Made in Heaven . The album was released in November 1995; In addition to Mercury's last sung pieces, it also contains songs newly recorded by the three other band members.

In 1995 May began to work on a new solo album; it should be called Heroes and contain only cover versions . He was also busy with various film and television soundtracks as well as other joint productions. After a while he dropped the cover versions and concentrated on new song material. The result was the album Another World , released in June 1998 . The preparations for the accompanying short promotional tour of the Brian May Band suffered a serious setback when Cozy Powell was killed on April 5, 1998 in a car accident near Bristol . Steve Ferrone stepped in as a replacement at short notice . May signed Eric Singer for the actual tour . After their end in November 1998, the Brian May Band broke up.

Solo projects after 1998

Brian May (2010)

Since the release of his last album in 1998, May has performed either as a solo artist, as part of an ensemble or occasionally with Roger Taylor as Queen. From 2000 he worked with Taylor and Ben Elton on the implementation of the musical We Will Rock You , which premiered on May 12, 2002 at the Dominion Theater in London. Over the next twelve years, May and Taylor appeared occasionally in the musical as guest musicians. May had a particularly memorable appearance on June 3, 2002 at the Party at the Palace , which took place in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee , when he played the national anthem God Save the Queen as a guitar solo on the roof of Buckingham Palace . In June 2005 he was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his “services to the British music industry” .

May worked extensively with stage actress and singer Kerry Ellis , whom he cast for the original London cast of We Will Rock You . In 2008 he produced their EP Wicked in Rock , two years later he was responsible for the production and arrangement of their debut album Anthems . Since then he has often appeared as a guest musician at their concerts. His most successful collaboration with another artist (measured by the chart position) was with rapper Dappy in 2012 : The single Rockstar , to which he contributed a guitar solo, reached number 2 in the British singles charts. On August 12, 2012 May joined the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on: first he played Brighton Rock , then We Will Rock You , along with Taylor and Jessie J .

2004-2009: Queen + Paul Rodgers

Queen + Paul Rodgers (2005)

In late 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and go on tour. They hired Paul Rodgers , the former lead singer of Free and Bad Company , but who did not appear as an official Queen member. Queen bassist John Deacon waived because he had completely withdrawn from the music business, but let it be known that he had given his consent. In 2005 and 2006 Queen + Paul Rodgers went on an extensive world tour through Europe, North America and Japan.

On August 15, 2006, May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would start producing a joint album "in a secret location" in October. The album entitled The Cosmos Rocks was released on September 12, 2008. The following tour began on the same day with a free concert on Freedom Square in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in front of around 350,000 spectators. It then went through Europe, the USA, Dubai and South America. Queen + Paul Rodgers officially separated on May 12, 2009. Rodgers did not rule out a possible collaboration at a later date. Five years later, however, May said that Rodgers' voice was rather unsuitable for Queen songs and more suited to blues and soul.

Since 2011: Queen + Adam Lambert

On May 20, 2009, May and Taylor played We Are The Champions live at the American Idol final , along with winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert . Two and a half years later, at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2011 in Belfast , Queen and Lambert played three songs. Fans and the media rated the performance extremely positively, which led to rumors about a possible future collaboration. In February 2012, May, Taylor and Lambert confirmed a European tour. The tour in summer 2012 led through Eastern Europe and ended in London.

In summer 2014 Queen + Adam Lambert went on a world tour and played in North America, East Asia and Oceania. This was followed by a European tour in winter 2015 and a South America tour in autumn 2015. Among other things, Queen played for the first time since 1985 at the Rock in Rio Festival . May, Taylor and Lambert continued their collaboration in 2016 with a European tour. Work on a studio album is currently not planned.

2015 Brian May played as a guest musician, a guitar solo on the song The Devil on the album bad magic of the band Motörhead , the last album by the band before the death of Lemmy .

Meaning for Queen

guitar

Equipment

Sketch for the construction of the Red Special

Brian May is responsible for the group's distinctive guitar sound. This is based on the one hand on the special construction of his self-made guitar Red Special , on the other hand on his individual playing technique, which gives his guitar a "singing" sound. By the end of the 1970s, May used his guitar to create all the sound effects that synthesizers , string orchestras or brass instruments take over in other groups .

Burns London offered a Korean- made replica of the Red Special from October 2001 to July 2004 at a price of around € 650 . In addition to a few optical details, this one essentially differed from the original in the simpler vibrato system . Brian May has been marketing the guitar himself under the brand name Brian May Guitars since 2004. In 2006 this model was optically adapted even more to the original and improved in quality. An (electro) acoustic guitar, designed based on the Red Special, was also presented this year. In addition to these very own instruments, the hardware side of May's guitar sound includes an amplifier for studio recordings made by bassist John Deacon (“Deacy Amp”) and traditional British tube amplifiers of the type Vox AC30 in combination with an effects pedal ( Treble Booster ).

Recordings and composition

May used the overdub technique on many pieces in the recording studio . The score of Somebody to Love, for example, has five electric guitar parts. In the purely instrumental pieces ( Procession , The Wedding March , God Save the Queen ), but also in songs like Keep Yourself Alive , Dreamer's Ball , Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon or The Millionaire Waltz , this “orchestral-vocal” guitar sound is particularly evident Validity. He achieved a further increase in these guitar effects in Good Company ("Jazz Band"); The Loser in the End ("Rock Organ"), All Dead, All Dead and Lily of the Valley ("String Orchestra"). In some tracks the guitar sound is given a flexibility similar to a choir or a singing voice, so that the transition between vocals and instrument is hardly noticeable, as in the pieces with the extremely high "screams" by Roger Taylor ( Seven Seas of Rhye , The March of the Black Queen , The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke , Ogre Battle , Father to Son ).

Playing technique and influences

May while tapping

Numerous publications and musicians refer to May as a virtuoso guitarist. The music magazine Rolling Stone put him at number 26 on the list of the best guitarists ever . In a list from 2003 he was ranked 39th. In contrast to most other guitarists, May does not use a plastic plectrum to play the guitar strings , but coins. He prefers sixpence coins, especially the last minted series from 1970, as their rigidity allows him more control when playing the guitar. In addition, their corrugated edge enables a tone development that is significantly richer in overtones when struck. For his solo tour in 1993, he had the Royal Mint make copies of his likeness; these were also sold as fan articles.

His childhood musical idols included Lonnie Donegan , Tommy Steele , The Everly Brothers , Buddy Holly and The Crickets . Later came Cliff Richard and The Shadows , the Beatles , Jimi Hendrix , Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton . He was particularly impressed by The Who and Led Zeppelin . He was also inspired by blues musicians, especially Rory Gallagher .

May can adapt to many styles with his guitar playing: from intimate, simple songs like Love of My Life , which he accompanied classically on the acoustic double-choir guitar, to hard rock tracks like Tie Your Mother Down or Tear It Up . Before the introduction of the synthesizer at Queen, Brian May could also be heard on other instruments in studio recordings: piano in numerous songs, harp in Love of My Life , toy koto in The Prophet's Song , ukulele in Good Company and banjolele in Bring Back That Leroy Brown .

singing

His voice is less pronounced than that of Freddie Mercury and clearly stands out from it, so that the lead singer can always be clearly heard on the albums. In the three-part vocal harmonies typical for Queen, May usually took on the lower backing vocals . He was the lead singer on some of the songs he wrote, including the first verse of Who Wants to Live Forever , the last verse of Mother Love, and the bridge of I Want It All and Flash . He was the sole lead singer in Some Day One Day , She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos) , '39 , Good Company , Long Away , All Dead, All Dead , Sleeping on the Sidewalk , Leaving Home Ain't Easy and Sail Away Sweet Sister . Most of the songs on the Queen albums were from either May or Mercury. May's best-known compositions include We Will Rock You , Tie Your Mother Down , I Want It All , Fat Bottomed Girls , Flash , Hammer to Fall , Save Me , Who Wants to Live Forever and The Show Must Go On .

During the concerts

Brian May live (1979)

May is more economical in his movements and gestures than many other rock guitarists, which is not least due to his filigree finger technique. On stage he left the show to Freddie Mercury and only sang the supporting voices, and he also let Mercury take the lead on his own tracks. Usually he was only seen on stage with his guitar. Occasionally he also played the piano ( Save Me , Teo Torriatte ) and keyboard ( Who Wants to Live Forever ). Like his role model Jimi Hendrix, Brian May often uses the feedback from his guitar as a stylistic device. In addition, the echo effect ( delay ) is typical for him. So he can play polyphonically with himself live - especially in the solo of Brighton Rock (included, among other things, on the album Live Killers ).

Songwriting

Brian May was the main songwriter within the band alongside Freddie Mercury; More than two-thirds of Queen's songs come from the two of them. Unless otherwise noted, the following songs, composed by May, were sung by Mercury:

  • 1973: Queen : Keep Yourself Alive ; Doing All Right (co-writer Tim Staffell, the song comes from their collaboration in the previous Queen band Smile ); The Night Comes Down ; Son and Daughter .
  • 1974: Queen II : Procession (instrumental); Father to Son ; White Queen (As It Began) ; Some Day One Day (sung by May); on the single Seven Seas of Rhye : See What a Fool I've Been .
  • 1974: Sheer Heart Attack : Brighton Rock ; Now I'm Here ; Dear Friends ; She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos) (sung by May).
  • 1975: A Night at the Opera : '39 (sung by May); Sweet lady ; The Prophet's Song ; Good Company (sung by May); God Save the Queen (instrumental, arrangement by May).
  • 1976: A Day at the Races : Tie Your Mother Down ; Long Away (sung by May); White Man ; Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) .
  • 1977: News of the World : We Will Rock You ; It's late ; All Dead, All Dead and Sleeping on the Sidewalk (both sung by May).
  • 1978: Jazz : Fat Bottomed Girls ; Dead on time ; Dreamer's ball ; Leaving Home Ain't Easy (sung by May).
  • 1980: The Game : Dragon Attack ; Sail Away Sweet Sister (sung by May and Mercury); Save me .
  • 1980: Flash Gordon - Original Soundtrack Music : Flash's Theme (sung by Mercury and May), The Hero ; as well as the instrumental titles Flash to the Rescue , Battle Theme , The Wedding March (Arrangement von May), Marriage of Dale and Ming (and Flash Approaching) (co-author Taylor), Crash Dive on Mingo City , Flash's Theme Reprise (Victory Celebrations) .
  • 1982: Hot Space : Dancer ; Put out the fire ; Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love) .
  • 1984: The Works : Tear It Up ; Machines (or 'Back to Humans') (co-author: Taylor); Hammer to fall ; Is This the World We Created? (Co-authored Mercury); on the single Radio Ga Ga : I Go Crazy .
  • 1984: May and Taylor wrote the title of the same name on the single Thank God It's Christmas .
  • 1986: A Kind of Magic : Who Wants to Live Forever (sung by Mercury and May); Gimme the Prize (Kurgan's Theme) ; Forever (instrumental).
  • 1989: The Miracle : I Want It All (sung by Mercury and May); Scandal ; u. a.
  • 1991: Innuendo : Headlong ; I can't live with you ; The Show Must Go On (shared with other Queen members); Lost Opportunity (on the single I'm Going Slightly Mad ; sung by May).
  • 1995: Made in Heaven : Mother Love (written and sung by Mercury and May); Too Much Love Will Kill You (co-authors: Frank Musker and Elizabeth Lamers).
  • 1997: No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young) (sung by May and Taylor) - This track recorded jointly by Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon is the only song rewritten since Mercury's death. It is included on the album Queen Rocks released on November 3, 1997 . The song also appeared as a single (1997) and on the album Greatest Hits III (1999).

In addition to the titles already listed from 1989 to 1991, others were only published under the author's name "Queen", see Queen - The authors of the Queen songs .

Private life

At the end of 1968, during his time at Smile, May met the prospective teacher Christine "Chrissie" Mullen. The two married in 1974 and together had a son and two daughters; the couple separated in 1988. The split, and eventual divorce, caught the attention of the British tabloids after it was revealed that he had had an affair with actress Anita Dobson since 1986 . Dobson was best known nationally in the 1980s for the role of Angie Watts in the soap opera EastEnders . May and Dobson were married on November 18, 2000.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List , May had a fortune of £ 85 million in 2011 . He is a vegetarian and has lived in London as well as in Windlesham in the county of Surrey . His hobbies include collecting tin soldiers and Star Wars fan items.

astrophysics

Brian May visits the Paranal Observatory (2015)

May studied physics and infrared astronomy at Imperial College , London, and received a Bachelor of Science degree . From 1970 he completed postgraduate studies with the aim of becoming a Ph.D. complete. He examined radial velocities in interplanetary dust . When the international success with Queen began in 1974, May broke off work on his dissertation . But he was co-author of two scientific papers based on his observations in the Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife . These appeared in the journals Nature and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .

In October 2006, May enrolled again at Imperial College to complete his dissertation. He submitted it in August 2007, a year earlier than he had originally assumed. He had to involve the research progress in the field of interplanetary dust in the past three decades, including the Infrared Astronomical Satellite of NASA discovered dust lanes. On August 23, 2007, he passed the disputation , whereupon his revised doctoral thesis entitled A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud was accepted the following month - 37 years after he was given it started work. His doctoral supervisor is the astrophysicist Paul Nandra. The submission of his doctoral thesis was only possible because hardly any research had been done in this area in the meantime. May officially received his PhD at an Imperial College ceremony held on May 14, 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall .

Imperial College made May a visiting scholar in October 2007. He continues to work in the field of astrophysics and regularly attends Imperial College events. On November 17, 2007, John Moores University in Liverpool appointed him Chancellor . He held this representative office from 2008 to 2013. Following the suggestion of his friend Patrick Moore , the International Astronomical Union named the asteroid (52665) Brianmay after him on June 18, 2008 , probably due to the temporary designation 1998 BM 30 . Occasionally, May appears on the BBC's The Sky at Night television program , which deals with astronomy. In 2014 he co-founded the global awareness campaign Asteroid Day , which warns of the possible dangers of asteroids. During a press conference at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in July 2015, May was introduced as a member of the team that oversees NASA's New Horizons project. On the occasion of the probe's flyby of (486958) Arrokoth (then unofficially called Ultima Thule ) on January 1, 2019, May released an official music video entitled New Horizons (Ultima Thule Mix) .

May is co-author of two popular science books with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott . The Complete History of the Universe was published in 2006 . It explains the history of the universe , from the big bang to the continuing expansion of the universe to the possible big freeze in the distant future. In 2012, the book The Cosmic Tourist: The 100 Most Awe-inspiring Destinations in the Universe by the same authors followed, which explains the phenomena of the universe using 100 examples. May wrote the foreword to the book How to Read the Solar System: A Guide to the Stars and Planets by Chris North and Paul Abel, published in 2015 .

Animal welfare and politics

Brian May at a demonstration in front of Westminster Abbey (2013)

May described himself as a former Conservative Party voter . Because of their stance on fox hunting and the mass culling of badgers , he no longer voted for them in the 2010 general election. In that year he founded the animal welfare organization Save Me , which works to protect all animals against unnecessary, cruel and degrading treatment. She pays particular attention to ensuring that the Hunting Act 2004 and other animal welfare laws remain in force. In September 2012, May was named Vice President of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). He also supports the International Fund for Animal Welfare , League Against Cruel Sports, and PETA .

In March 2012, May wrote the foreword to a strategy paper by the Bow Group think tank calling on the government to stop culling thousands of badgers. Experiments ordered years earlier by the Labor government have shown that this method of containing the transmission of bovine tuberculosis is ineffective . The strategy paper was authored by Graham Godwin-Pearson, supplemented by contributions from leading tuberculosis researchers such as John Krebs . In April 2013 May supported together with Hank Marvin an animal rights organization founded by the French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel ; for this purpose they signed guitars and art photos.

In May 2013, May, the RSPCA, actor Brian Blessed and cartoonist Jonti Picking formed "Team Badger" to protest against the planned mass culling of badgers. May, Blessed and Picking recorded the single Save The Badger Badger Badger - a mashup of Picking's Flash cartoon Badger Badger Badger , which went viral in 2003 , and the Queen's song Flash with Blessed's vocals. The resulting video was a parody of both Picking's own cartoon and scenes from the movie Flash Gordon , whose soundtrack was made by Queen. The single reached number 79 on the UK Singles Charts , number 39 on the UK iTunes charts and number 1 on the iTunes rock charts.

Before the general election in 2015 , May seriously considered running as an independent candidate. It was also reported that he had started a project to bring "good manners and decency back into everyday life and into parliament". May said he wanted to "get rid of" the current government and would like a House of Commons made up of individuals who vote "on the basis of their conscience". May was among a group of celebrities who supported Green candidate Caroline Lucas's candidacy in these elections. He also campaigned for the re-election of Conservative MP Henry Smith for his commitment to animal welfare.

In July 2015, May criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron for lifting the parliamentary group requirement for a vote on amending the foxhunting law in England and Wales. During a live television interview, he described the Countryside Alliance , which is campaigning for the reintroduction of foxhunting, as a "bunch of lying bastards". The government postponed the vote after Scottish National Party MPs intervened to say they would leave the law unchanged. Speaking at a protest by anti-foxers outside the Palace of Westminster , May said this was a "very, very important day for our democracy," but added that they had "not won the war yet" and that there was "no room for complacency" would be.

In 2019 he spoke out in favor of holding another Live Aid concert on the fight against climate change .

Stereoscopy

May has been interested in stereoscopy of the Victorian era for decades . In 2009, together with the historian Elena Vidal, he published the book A Village Lost and Found , which deals with the English stereoscopy pioneer TR Williams . In September 2012 he received the Saxby Medal of the Royal Photographic Society for his services in the field of 3D photography . May, who is chairman of the Stereoscopic Society , made a significant technical contribution to the companion book to the Stereoscopic Photographs of Pablo Picasso by Robert Mouzillat exhibition held at the Holburne Museum in Bath from February to June 2014 .

After purchasing a first work in 1973, May began building a collection of Diableries - stereoscopic photos from France in the 1860s depicting “everyday life in Hell”. In October 2013 he published the book Diableries: Stereoscopic Adventures in Hell together with Denis Pellerin and Paula Fleming . May created a 3-D image of the asteroid (162173) Ryugu from two different images from June 25, 2018. There is a video documentation by Brian May about the development of stereoscopy, which was broadcast on Sky GB.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1983 Star Fleet Project - - - UK35 (4 weeks)
UK 		US147 (2 weeks)
US
First published: October 1983
with Eddie Van Halen & Fred Mandel
1992 Back to the light DE25 (12 weeks)
DE 		AT20 (5 weeks)
AT 		CH11 (8 weeks)
CH 		UK6th
gold
gold

(14 weeks)UK 		US159 (2 weeks)
US
First release: September 28, 1992
1st solo album
1994 Live at the Brixton Academy DE71 (6 weeks)
DE 		AT38 (1 week)
AT 		CH33 (2 weeks)
CH 		UK20 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
First release: February 7th, 1994
live album
1998 Another world DE32 (4 weeks)
DE 		AT48 (2 weeks)
AT 		- UK23 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
First release: June 1st, 1998
2nd solo album
2017 Golden Days - - - UK27 (1 week)
UK 		-
First published: April 7, 2017
with Kerry Ellis

Queen

Books and publications by Brian May

literature

Web links

Commons : Brian May  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ruth Huntman: Brian May: Me, my dad and 'the old lady'. The Guardian , October 18, 2014, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  2. ↑ I'm exactly half english and half scot… brianmay.com, September 13, 2014, accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  3. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. P. 11.
  4. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. P. 12.
  5. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 14-16.
  6. ^ Brian May, 1984 & the left-handed marriage. brianmay.com, November 1995, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 21-22.
  8. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 22-23.
  9. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 23-24.
  10. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 35-36.
  11. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. P. 39.
  12. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 41-42.
  13. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. P. 60.
  14. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 75-76.
  15. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 80-81.
  16. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 98-99.
  17. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. P. 91.
  18. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 100-101.
  19. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 122-123.
  20. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 245-247.
  21. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 309-310.
  22. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. Pp. 321-322.
  23. ^ Brian May admits he contemplated suicide after Freddie Mercury's death. New Musical Express , September 12, 2011, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  24. ↑ Spencer Bright: This week the Queen idol would've been 65… now pop star Dave Clark reveals: 'Freddie chose to die when his life stopped being fun'. Daily Mail , September 9, 2011, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  25. ↑ Interviews: Brian May: Talk Radio '98. queenmusichall.cz, accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  26. ↑ Brian May Concertography 1983–1999. Ultimate Queen, January 7, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  27. ^ Peter Buckley: The Rough Guide to Rock . Rough Guides, London 2003, ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0 , pp. 837 .
  28. ↑ In Pictures: Stars rock the Palace: Brian May.BBC News , June 4, 2002, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  29. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 57665, HMSO, London, June 11, 2005, p. 8 ( PDF , accessed July 21, 2016, English).
  30. ↑ Olympics Closing Ceremony: Jessie J Joins Queen For 'We Will Rock You' Performance. Capital FM, August 12, 2012, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  31. ↑ Olympics closing ceremony: playlist. The Daily Telegraph , August 12, 2012, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  32. ↑ 3 legendary rockers join forces to make a royal return. brianmay.com, March 2006, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  33. ^ A b Queen + Paul Rodgers Concertography. Ultimate Queen, December 6, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  34. ^ Daniel Kreps: Paul Rodgers, Queen Split: "It Was Never a Permanent Arrangement". Rolling Stone , May 13, 2009, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  35. ^ Dave Lifton: Queen Admit that the Paul Rodgers Era Didn't Really Work. Ultimate Classic Rock, June 14, 2014, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  36. ↑ Gil Kaufman: Kris Allen, Adam Lambert Tear Up Queen's' We Are The Champions. MTV , May 20, 2009, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  37. ↑ Shirley Halperin: MTV EMAs: Adam Lambert Performs With Queen. Hollywood Reporter, November 6, 2011, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  38. ↑ Queen live on tour: Queen + A. Lambert 2012. queenconcerts.com, 2012, accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  39. ↑ Queen live on tour: Queen + A. Lambert 2014. queenconcerts.com, 2014, accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  40. ↑ Queen live on tour: Queen + A. Lambert 2015. queenconcerts.com, 2015, accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  41. ↑ Queen. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, accessed July 23, 2016 .
  42. ↑ Phil Sutcliffe: Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock . Voyageur Press, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-7603-4010-3 , pp. 164 .
  43. ↑ 100 Greatest Guitarists. Rolling Stone , accessed July 21, 2016 .
  44. ↑ 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time - David Fricke's Picks. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 .
  45. ↑ Laura Jackson: Brian May: The Definite Biography . Hachette, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-4055-1372-2 .
  46. ↑ What does Brian May use as a guitar plectrum? queenzone.com, archived from the original on July 23, 2016 ; accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  47. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. P. 13.
  48. ↑ The 3 Phases Of Brian May (Circus Magazine July 6, 1976). queenonline.com, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  49. ↑ The Life Of Brian. Guitar World Magazine, August 1991, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  50. ^ Brian May Interview On Taste & Rory Gallagher. YouTube , October 12, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  51. ↑ Jacky Gunn, Jim Jenkins: Queen. P. 36.
  52. ↑ Rebecca Hardy: I'll be dancing my heart out in memory of my mum! Daily Mail , September 30, 2011, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  53. ↑ Anita Dobson. In: Strictly Come Dancing. British Broadcasting Corporation , 2012, archived from the original on August 29, 2012 ; accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  54. ^ The top 50 richest people in music: Sunday Times Rich List. This is money, May 4, 2011, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  55. ^ A b Brian May: Vegetarian rock stars don't vote Tory. I did. But I'll never vote for Cameron after his bloody badger cull. Daily Mail , August 25, 2012, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  56. ↑ Tin toys and Star Wars memorabilia. OK! Magazine, June 19, 1998, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  57. ↑ Hicks, May, Reay: MgI Emission in the Night Sky Spectrum. 1972.
  58. ↑ Hicks, May, Reay: An investigation of the motion of zodiacal dust particles-1. 1974.
  59. ^ Queen star hands in science PhD. BBC News , August 3, 2007, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  60. ^ Queen star celebrates doctorate. BBC News , August 23, 2007, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  61. ^ Imperial College Postgraduate Awards 2008. Imperial College London , June 3, 2008, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  62. ↑ Dr. Brian May. Imperial College London , accessed July 21, 2016 .
  63. ↑ Ben Turner: Liverpool-born judge Sir Brian Leveson succeeds Queen legend Brian May as LJMU Chancellor. Liverpool Echo, May 20, 2013, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  64. ↑ (52665) Brianmay. Kleť Observatory, České Budějovice, 2009, accessed on July 21, 2016 .
  65. ↑ James Temperton: Brian May: act now to stop asteroids destroying humanity. Wired , December 3, 2014, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  66. ↑ Danny Lewis: Queen Guitarist Brian May is Now a New Horizons Science Collaborator. Smithsonian, July 29, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  67. ↑ Bang !: The Complete History of the Universe. Good Reads, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  68. ^ The Cosmic Tourist. Good Reads, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  69. ↑ How to Read the Solar System: A Guide to the Stars and Planets. Amazon.com , accessed July 21, 2016 .
  70. ↑ About. Save Me, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  71. ^ Brian May named vice-president of RSPCA. Farmers Weekly, September 13, 2012, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  72. ^ Bow Group urges Government to scrap badger cull plans. Bow Group, March 2012, archived from the original on April 28, 2012 ; accessed on July 21, 2016 (English).
  73. ↑ Patrick Barkham: Badger cull divides Tories. The Guardian , March 26, 2012, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  74. ^ Guitar players for animal rights. Brian May website, April 8, 2013, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  75. ↑ Badger protest song by Brian May reaches charts. The Guardian , August 30, 2013, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  76. ^ Mikey Smith: Brian May 'seriously considering' standing in 2015 general election with a campaign for common decency. Daily Mirror , February 3, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  77. ↑ Jessica Elgot: Celebrities sign statement of support for Caroline Lucas - but not the Greens. The Guardian , April 24, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  78. ^ Queen legend Brian May urges Crawley residents to vote Conservative at General Election. Crawley News, March 27, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  79. ↑ Matt Dathan: 'A bunch of lying b ***** ds'. The Independent , July 10, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  80. ↑ Emily Beamen: Brian May hails 'important day for democracy' after vote on foxhunting ban is postponed. The Independent , July 14, 2015, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  81. ↑ Queen guitarist wants another Live Aid concert to fight climate change . In: CNN , May 7, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  82. ↑ Randy Kennedy: A Village Preserved, Green and All: Brian May's Photographic Recovery. The New York Times , July 23, 2010, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  83. ↑ Kodak's digital camera inventor and Brian May honored. Amateur photographer, September 10, 2012, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  84. ^ Mark Brown: Picasso exhibition shows artist in 3D. The Guardian , February 8, 2014, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  85. ^ Ross Bennett: Picasso exhibition shows artist in 3D. Mojo4Music, October 13, 2013, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  86. ↑ Christopher Middleton: Brian May: There's life in the old devil yet. The Daily Telegraph , October 25, 2013, accessed July 21, 2016 .
  87. ↑ 2018/07/04 What's new? In: JAXA Hayabusa2 project . ( jaxa.jp [accessed September 22, 2018]).
  88. ↑ Brian May's Brief History of 3D - Part 1. Retrieved March 24, 2019 .
  89. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
Queen
Studio albums

Queen • Queen II • Sheer Heart Attack • A Night at the Opera • A Day at the Races • News of the World • Jazz • The Game • Flash Gordon • Hot Space • The Works • A Kind of Magic • The Miracle • Innuendo • Made in Heaven

Live albums

Live Killers • Live Magic • Live at Wembley '86 • Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl • Return of the Champions • Queen Rock Montreal • Live in Ukraine

Soundtracks

Flash Gordon • Bohemian Rhapsody

Compilation albums

Greatest Hits • At the Beeb • Greatest Hits II • Queen Rocks • Greatest Hits III • Absolute Greatest

personal data
SURNAME May, Brian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES May, Brian Harold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British guitarist, composer, singer, astrophysicist, non-fiction author and animal rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH July 19, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Hampton , Middlesex, England