Queen's guitarist finished his astrophysics PhD 36 years after starting it
Brian May began doctoral research in astrophysics in 1971, then got rather busy as Queen's lead guitarist. He finally received his PhD from Imperial College London in 2007. Since then he has worked with NASA on missions to Pluto and an asteroid, and has an asteroid named after him. He also plays a guitar he built at home.
May was born on 19 July 1947 in Hampton Hill, near Twickenham, the only child of Ruth and Harold May, a draughtsman at the Ministry of Aviation. A scholarship took him to Hampton Grammar School, where he formed his first band, named 1984 after Orwell's novel, with singer and bassist Tim Staffell. He earned three A levels in physics and mathematics subjects and a physics degree from Imperial College in 1968. Sir Bernard Lovell offered him a place at Jodrell Bank, but he stayed in London so as not to abandon his band, Smile.
Smile, formed in 1968 with Staffell and later drummer Roger Taylor, lasted until 1970 and left nine songs. That year Freddie Mercury joined May and Taylor to create Queen, and John Deacon arrived on bass in 1971. A Night at the Opera and Bohemian Rhapsody made them global stars, and from the mid-1970s to 1986 they filled the biggest venues on earth, including a celebrated Live Aid set in 1985. May wrote many of the band's anthems, among them We Will Rock You, and usually sang the lower harmony in their three-part vocals.
His sound comes from layered guitar parts, often played on the Red Special, the electric guitar he made himself. Polls have placed him seventh greatest guitarist of all time in 2005 and 33rd on a Rolling Stone list in 2023. In 2001 Queen were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. He was made a CBE in 2005 and later knighted.
Science never left him. After the doctorate he spent 2008 to 2013 as chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, collaborated with the science team on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto, and co-founded Asteroid Day to raise awareness of asteroid impacts. In 2023 he contributed to OSIRIS-REx, NASA's first successful mission to bring asteroid samples, from Bennu, back to Earth. Asteroid 52665 Brianmay honours him, and he campaigns for animal welfare.
Source: Brian May
