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
We do play to our audience. It's very important. You can't create music in a vacuum.
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.
For a time I didn't want to answer any questions about Queen. I'd like to be viewed as something alive and relevant, not some fossil.
I never took sheet music seriously. I could do better myself just by listening to other people and using my own intuition.
There are times when I flick through magazines and think I'm in danger of becoming a prisoner of my own hair.
Not for a million - years. I mean, I like the INXS boys, but I found the process very degrading, really. Reality television has eaten away at our standards of excellence. I don't like this whole culture, which has evolved, of TV being the king.
I don't surf the net in general. I have someone do it for me instead, because I find it sluggish.
I'm the nice guy who sits there signing everything that's put in front of me.
I tend not to write on guitar very often. I tend to start off with keyboards.
You want to go in the steam bath to get your vocals sounding well, but you don't want your fingers to get soft.
Einstein got most of the things right about black holes. I'm not an expert, I must admit
I've always lived in that guitar world. I have noticed kids being more into the real essence of guitar music now.
My children hate me being such a big star. It's very hard for them to have a father who is always in the public eye.
I'm a much better musician than astronomer. I think the world got the right choice.