On some of his songs, he sings the lead vocals, most notably the first verse of "Who Wants to Live Forever", the final verse of " Mother Love", the middle eight on " I Want It All" and " Flash's Theme", and full lead vocals on " Some Day One Day", " She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)", " '39", " Good Company", " Long Away", " All Dead, All Dead", " Sleeping on the Sidewalk", " Leaving Home Ain't Easy" and " Sail Away Sweet Sister". In Queen's three-part vocal harmonies, May was generally the lower-range backing vocalist. Main article: Queen (band) May (right) on stage with Queen in Hannover, Germany, 1979 In 2007, May was awarded a PhD degree in astrophysics from Imperial College London for work started in 1971 and completed in 2007. He declined, choosing instead to remain at Imperial College to avoid breaking from Smile, the London-based band he was in at the time. Following his graduation, May received a personal invitation from Sir Bernard Lovell to work at the Jodrell Bank Observatory while continuing to prepare his doctorate. He studied Mathematics and Physics at Imperial College London, graduating with a BSc degree in Physics in 1968 with honours. Īt Hampton Grammar School, May attained ten GCE Ordinary Levels and three GCE Advanced Levels in Physics, Mathematics, and Applied Mathematics. During this time, he formed his first band, named 1984 after George Orwell's novel of the same name, with vocalist and bassist Tim Staffell. May attended the local Hanworth Road state primary school, and at the age of 11 won a scholarship to Hampton Grammar School, then a voluntary aided school.
His mother, who was Scottish, married his father, who was English, at Moulin in Perthshire, Scotland in 1946. Early life īrian Harold May was born 19 July 1947 in a nursing home at Hampton Hill, near Twickenham, Middlesex, the only child of Ruth Irving ( née Fletcher) and Harold May, who worked as a draughtsman at the Ministry of Aviation. May was knighted by King Charles III in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to music and charity. May is also an animal rights activist, campaigning against fox hunting and the culling of badgers in the UK. Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was named after him.
He is also a co-founder of the awareness campaign Asteroid Day. He was a "science team collaborator" with NASA's New Horizons Pluto mission. May earned a PhD degree in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007, and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008 to 2013. May was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005 for services to the music industry and for charity work. In 2001, May was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Queen and in 2018 the band received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2012, he was ranked the second-greatest guitarist in a Guitar World magazine readers poll. 26 on Rolling Stone 's list of the " 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the seventh-greatest guitarist of all time. May wrote numerous hits for Queen, including " We Will Rock You", " I Want It All", " Fat Bottomed Girls", " Flash", " Hammer to Fall", " Save Me", " Who Wants to Live Forever", " Too Much Love Will Kill You", " Tie Your Mother Down" and " The Show Must Go On".įollowing the death of Mercury in 1991, aside from the 1992 tribute concert, the release of Made in Heaven (1995) and the 1997 tribute single to Mercury, " No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" (written by May), Queen were put on hiatus for several years but were eventually reconvened by May and Taylor for further performances featuring other vocalists. As a member of Queen, May became regarded as a virtuoso musician, identified with a distinctive sound created through his layered guitar work, often using a home-built electric guitar called the Red Special. From the mid-1970s until 1986, Queen played at some of the biggest venues in the world, including an acclaimed performance at Live Aid in 1985. They became one of the biggest rock bands in the world with the success of the album A Night at the Opera and its single " Bohemian Rhapsody". After Mercury joined to form Queen in 1970, bass guitarist John Deacon completed the line-up in 1971. May previously performed with Taylor in the blues rock band Smile, which he had joined while he was at university. His guitar work and songwriting contributions helped Queen become one of the most successful acts in music history. He achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen, which he co-founded with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. Sir Brian Harold May CBE (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, singer, astrophysicist and animal rights activist.
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