Biography for
Brian May (II) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

19 July 1947, Hampton, Middlesex, England, UK

Birth Name

Brian Harold May

Nickname

Bri

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Spouse

Anita Dobson	(18 November 2000 - present)
Chrissie Mullens	(1974 - 1988) (divorced) 3 children

Trade Mark

Plays his guitar (the Red Special) with a sixpence coin

His curly hair

His guitar "The Red Special" which he built

Guitar riffs

Trivia

Guitarist with the rock group Queen.

Left his wife Chrissie for British soap-actress star Anita Dobson.

Brian May and his ex-wife Chrissie have 3 children: James (aka Jimmy), born in 1978 Louisa, born in 1981 Emily, born in 1987

After much experimentation, he found the best guitar sound came from using an old English sixpence coin as a pick. These coins went out of circulation in the early 70s, and in 1992 he had the Royal Mint make up some more with his likeness on them.

Attended Imperial College, London University where he completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in physics and mathematics. Commenced a Doctorate in astronomy, but dropped out to join Queen.

His favourite drink is Guinness.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 (as a member of Queen).

He has performed with the SAS (Spike Edney's All Stars) Band.

Brian made a guest appearance playing with rock band Marillion at the Mungersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, West Germany. [19 July 1986]

As a member of Rock Against Repatriation, Brian collaborated with fellow star guitarists Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, Phil Manzanera, Steve Rothery and many other rock stars for the charity single "Sailing". [1990]

Opened the Queen's Jubilee concert by playing "God Save The Queen" from the top of Buckingham Palace (2002).

Two of his riffs were voted into the Total Guitar Magazine poll of the 100 greatest riffs; "Tie Your Mother Down" was 84 and "One Vision" was 60 on the list. [June 2004]

He used to teach Mathematics at Stockwell Park Secondary School, in Stockwell, South West London.

He was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to music.

Shares a birthday with fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members The Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux and Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon.

His trademark Red Special guitar was constructed essentially from old junk. Among the components that make up the guitar are motorcycle valve springs, a knitting needle, mother-of-pearl buttons, and a discarded fireplace mantle.

Queen won the 2005 Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.

Queen were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [11 November 2004]

Resumed pursuit of PhD in Astronomy, updating research and data re: presentation of dissertation on motion of interstellar dust.

Penned the hits Keep Yourself Alive, Thirty-Nine, Tie Your Mother Down, and Fat Bottomed Girls.

Submitted Astronomy Ph.D. dissertation for review and approval mid-2007. Upon approval, Ph.D. will be given May 2008.

Attended the Genesis concert at Twickenham Stadium on 8th July 2007.

After more than 30 years lapsed since first starting doctoral studies, he earned his doctorate from Imperial College London in astrophysics after a successful thesis defense on August 23, 2007. The thesis is entitled, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud".

Has a guitar solo in the song "Bad For Good" on the Meat Loaf album "Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose".

Enjoys the music of younger bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters and Muse.

Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.

Very close friends with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.

Is the only person to guest feature on a Black Sabbath song, "When Death Calls", on The 1987 Album "Headless Cross".

Is a vegetarian and a non-smoker.

Queen was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6356 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Personal Quotes

I wanted to do an album on [paradoxes]. The band told me I was a pretentious fart. They were right.

I've never been fashionable and I never will.

I don't think anyone has epitomised riff writing better than Jimmy Page - he's one of the great brains of rock music.

I'm a much better musician than astronomer. I think the world got the right choice.

"I do think that maybe now people are looking at more depth to what we did. Yes, we were pretty flashy and we were pretty loud and at moments we seemed very outrageous, but there was a lot of honest craftsmanship that went on behind that." (Speaking in 2003)

Sorry, TV just makes me feel ill. Except the good stuff that gets imported, with great scripts, great lighting, great camera angles, innovative effects, and fabulous editing. And the Simpsons. What has happened to us?

I'm feeling rather joyful. I cannot tell you how much of a weight off the mind it is. - after his assessors approved of his thesis and he passed an oral exam.

I'm the world's biggest Led Zeppelin fan. The music, the way they conducted themselves, their whole management structure - they were the blueprint. Queen always used to play The Immigrant Song in sound-checks just for the glory of the sound.

In my mind, it just seems like there cannot be a Queen without Freddie (Freddie Mercury) and we should probably rather not pretend that there could be. (Speaking in 1993)

We were kind of disciples of Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix) and The Beatles, particularly the way they used studios almost like an instrument, but obviously we had more technology than they had had, so we could push things a lot further.

I regard Planet Rock as rather more than just a radio station - it is a symbol of free radio ... radio which is not run by large corporate organisations for the purpose of making tons of money, and has a free choice of what it plays.

[on how he got the idea to write the classic Queen song "We Will Rock You"] {Queen] played a gig at Bingley Hall near Birmingham. It was a popular venue at the time. It was a big sweaty barn and that night it was packed with a particularly vocal crowd. They were definitely drowning us out with their enthusiasm. I remember that even after we left the stage they didn't stop singing - loudly. They sang "You'll Never Walk Alone," which is very emotional. Quite a choking thing really. I certainly found it inspirational. Later that night back at our hotel I said to the others, "That was great. So what should we do to continue generating that kind of energetic response?" I woke up with the "We Will Rock You" lyrics in my head and had it written in about 10 minutes.

Where Are They Now

(March 2006) Queen + 'Paul Rodgers (IV)' led a surprise North American tour, starting on 3 March in Miami, FL, and ending 13 April in Vancouver, BC. This was the first tour Queen had taken in North America since the death of Freddie Mercury.

(March 2005) Embarked on a world tour with Roger Taylor and 'Paul Rodgers (IV)' (as Queen + Paul Rodgers), including stops at the Meadowlands Arena and the Hollywood Bowl (marking the first time Queen has played in the U.S. since 1982).

(April 2008) Installed as the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, replacing Cherie Blair, QC (wife of ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair).

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