Brian Harold May (born: July 19, 1947), is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is known for being the lead guitarist, as well as a main songwriter and singer, for the rock band Queen. He is also an astrophysicist, author and animal activist.
History[]
Brian was born in Hampton, England to Ruth May and Harold May. At a young age, Brian and his father built the Red Special, Brian’s signature guitar that he still uses today. The guitar was built from things that were available to Brian’s parents as they were too poor to buy their own guitar, such as the mantle of their fireplace. Brian went to Hampton School (formerly Hampton Grammar School) for his education. In 1965, he enrolled in an astrophysics program at the London Imperial College and earned his bachelor's degree from there. He also started on his Ph.D. until 1974 but finished it in 2007.
While at the college, Brian formed the band Smile, which later evolved into Queen. While in Queen, Brian was the lead guitarist. He also wrote and sang in a lot of songs for Queen and always toured with the band. Some of his most recognisable songs are Keep Yourself Alive, Now I'm Here, We Will Rock You, Fat Bottomed Girls, Save Me, Tear It Up and The Show Must Go On.
After Queen lead singer and pianist Freddie Mercury’s death from AIDS in 1991, Brian continued to perform with Queen, even organising a tribute concert with the rest of the band and several guest musicans. Due to Freddie’s death, however, John Deacon, the bassist for the band, retired due to personal reasons. From 1992 onwards, Brian May has released solo albums, namely Back to the Light, released in 1992, and Another World, released in 1998. May and Taylor have collaborated with two artists under the "Queen +" name; Paul Rodgers , from 2005 to 2008, and Adam Lambert, from 2011 onwards. Both Brian and Roger continued to tour around the globe with Lambert, however the COVID-19 pandemic caused the trio to reschedule dates on their tours to 2022.
Guitars[]
Brian May uses a homemade guitar called The Red Special, or the Old Lady, which he built with his late father Harold. In 2021, he uploaded a video of a newly released guitar from his instrument production company, Brian May Guitars.