Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBEis an English musician, singer, songwriter and astrophysicist, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. He uses a home-built electric guitar, called the Red Special. His compositions for the band include "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down", "I Want It All", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "The Prophet's Song", "Flash", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "The Show Must Go On"...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth19 July 1947
CityLondon, England
I don't think anybody comes close to The Beatles, including Oasis
I'd put a lot of work into playing guitar, and was thinking I was pretty damn good. But Hendrix came along and destroyed everyone.
There are times when I flick through magazines and think I'm in danger of becoming a prisoner of my own hair.
We wouldn't have put it out with the name Queen on it if we didn't think it was musically up to scratch.
I think a lot of people would be better off in America, where at least you would find some radio station somewhere that would play you.
I think Queen tribute bands are great. However, we have to keep them at arm's length, otherwise it could be too dangerous.
My mum says I wanted to be a surgeon, but I don't remember that. I think from the time I knew what was happening, I wanted to be a guitar player.
I think Hammer's very cool: he has a great voice and great presence.
I'm a much better musician than astronomer. I think the world got the right choice.
We've done an arrangement with an orchestra, but I think the best stuff tends to come when it's just the four of us.
...I think the popular view of Science is a solid body of truth, shared by a whole lot of learned men in a room, all agreeing on the answers to the questions of how the Universe works. Whereas nothing could be further from the truth!!! The one truth that I see emerging from the History of Science is that experiment has always surprised theorists. Einstein included!
I think music is about our internal life. It’s part of the way people touch each other. That’s very precious to me. And astronomy is, in a sense, the very opposite thing. Instead of looking inwards, you are looking out, to things beyond our grasp.
I spent 20 years of my life building up Queen, and now I'm spending years of my life trying to get away from it.
The music itself is very challenging, so I've never really felt the lack of stimulation. I love to be creating; I love to be making things and solving problems, I suppose, and when I'm not, then I'm not an incredibly good person to be around. If I'm not busy, then I think I would be disaster. That's just the way things are.