80-540: Shove It is the debut album by UK rock band the Cross released on 13 April 1988 by Virgin Records . The group was founded and led by Roger Taylor , best known as the drummer for Queen , though he was the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist for The Cross. The album features a mix of dance and rock, and can be considered Taylor's third solo album after 1984’s Strange Frontier . Taylor had originally started recording
160-640: A BSc degree in physics in 1968 with honours. Following his graduation, May received a personal invitation from Sir Bernard Lovell to work at the Jodrell Bank Observatory while continuing to prepare his doctorate. He declined, choosing instead to remain at Imperial College to avoid breaking from Smile, the London-based band he was in at the time. In 2007, May earned a PhD degree in astrophysics from Imperial College London for work started in 1971 and completed in 2007. May formed
240-405: A PhD degree in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007, and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008 to 2013. He was a "science team collaborator" with NASA's New Horizons Pluto mission. He is also a co-founder of the awareness campaign Asteroid Day . Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was named after him. In 2023, May contributed to NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission,
320-790: A world tour , the first leg being Europe and the second, Japan and the US in 2006. On 25 May 2006, Queen received the inaugural VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas , Nevada, and May and Taylor were joined on stage with the Foo Fighters to perform a selection of Queen songs. On 15 August 2006, May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album in October, to be recorded at
400-640: A "secret location". The album, titled The Cosmos Rocks , was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008. Following the album's release, the band embarked on a tour through Europe and parts of the US, opening on Kharkiv's freedom square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans. The show in Ukraine was later released on DVD . Queen and Paul Rodgers officially split up on 12 May 2009. Rodgers did not rule out
480-706: A 19-date summer tour of North America on Good Morning America . Because of ticket demand, five dates were soon added. In May 2014, shows in Australia and New Zealand were announced, along with festival performances in South Korea and Japan. The tour was extended to the UK and greater Europe in early 2015. The group performed together in South America in September 2015, including Queen's first performance at
560-599: A Carpenter ". May also performed several other songs that night. In Queen's three-part vocal harmonies, May was generally the lower-range backing vocalist. On some of his songs, he sings the lead vocals, most notably the first verse of "Who Wants to Live Forever", the final verse of " Mother Love ", the middle eight on " I Want It All " and " Flash's Theme ", and full lead vocals on " Some Day One Day ", " She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes) ", " '39 ", " Good Company ", " Long Away ", " All Dead, All Dead ", " Sleeping on
640-481: A distinctive sound created through his layered guitar work, often using a home-built electric guitar called the Red Special . May wrote numerous hits for Queen, including " We Will Rock You ", " I Want It All ", " Fat Bottomed Girls ", " Flash ", " Hammer to Fall ", " Save Me ", " Who Wants to Live Forever " and " The Show Must Go On ". Following the death of Mercury in 1991, aside from the 1992 tribute concert ,
720-517: A feature about Collins for FHM , praising him as "a great guy and an amazing drummer". During the late 1960s, May became an enthusiast of stereoscope photographs, as a child, and first encountered the work of Thomas Richard Williams . In 2003, May announced a search to identify the actual location of the Scenes in Our Village images. In 2004 May reported that he had identified the location as
800-459: A final show. Taylor continued working with Queen and produced solo albums . Drummer Macrae accompanied Taylor on his solo tours and also played percussion at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert . Both Taylor and keyboardist Edney participated in the Queen + Paul Rodgers tours, while Macrae worked behind the scenes as a sound engineer and Pro Tools engineer for them. In the late 1990s, Edney formed
880-598: A guest appearance at the Motörhead 25th Anniversary show at Brixton Academy along with Eddie Clarke (former Motörhead guitarist) for the encore song " Overkill ". As part of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebrations on 3 June 2002, May performed a guitar solo of " God Save the Queen " from the roof of Buckingham Palace , with the performance appearing on the 30th Anniversary DVD edition of A Night at
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#1732793791582960-643: A joint concert with Elton John for the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. Queen also performed with Lambert on 3 July 2012 at Moscow's Olympic Stadium , and on 7 July 2012 at the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland. In January 2012, May featured on N-Dubz frontman Dappy 's solo single " Rockstar ", providing "rumbling guitar riffs which culminate in an electrifying solo". The pair also collaborated on
1040-545: A major hit in several countries. After finishing Queen's 1989 album The Miracle , Taylor went into the studio with the rest of the Cross for the first time to record Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know . The band composed the opening track "Top Of The World Ma". The rest of the album consisted mainly of individually written songs, except for "Power To Love" which was a joint venture by Macrae, Noone and Moss. Clayton Moss sang lead vocals on his own track "Better Things", and Spike Edney played mandolin on "Final Destination", which
1120-525: A performance of "We Will Rock You" for BBC Radio 1 's Live Lounge . Queen performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on 12 August 2012. May performed part of the " Brighton Rock " solo before being joined by Taylor and solo artist Jessie J for a performance of "We Will Rock You". On 16 September 2012, May appeared at the Sunflower Jam charity concert at
1200-595: A virtuoso guitarist by many publications and musicians. He has featured in various music polls of the greatest rock guitarists, and in 2011 was ranked number 26 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the " 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time ". In January 2007, the readers of Guitar World voted May's guitar solos on " Bohemian Rhapsody " and " Brighton Rock " into the "top 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time" (No.20 and No.41 respectively). Former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar stated, "I thought Queen were really innovative and made some great sounding records... I like
1280-411: A week in aid of charity. In 2015, May played guitar on the end credits song "One Voice" from the film A Dog Named Gucci . The song also features the talents of: Norah Jones , Aimee Mann , Susanna Hoffs , Lydia Loveless , Neko Case , and Kathryn Calder . It was produced by Dean Falcone, who wrote the film's score. "One Voice" was released on Record Store Day , 16 April 2016, with profits from
1360-448: Is an extended remix of the track "Shove It". On UK CD pressings it also includes the hidden outro of "Rough Justice". The Cross (band) The Cross were an English rock band formed in 1987 by Queen drummer Roger Taylor . They released three studio albums before splitting up in 1993. In contrast to Queen and other outside projects, Taylor fronted the band and played rhythm guitar instead of drums. On their debut album, which
1440-909: Is the only child of Ruth Irving ( née Fletcher) and Harold May, who worked as a draughtsman at the Ministry of Aviation . His mother, who was Scottish , married his father, who was English , at Moulin in Perthshire, Scotland in 1946. May attended the local Hanworth Road state primary school, and at the age of 11 won a scholarship to Hampton Grammar School , then a voluntary aided school. During this time, he formed his first band, named 1984 after George Orwell 's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , with vocalist and bassist Tim Staffell . At Hampton Grammar School, May attained ten GCE Ordinary Levels and three GCE Advanced Levels in physics, mathematics, and applied mathematics. He studied mathematics and physics at Imperial College London , graduating with
1520-627: The Another World album. The Conway character was retired at the end of the tour. In May 1999, May recorded lead guitars for the Guns N' Roses song "Catcher in the Rye" on Chinese Democracy , but his performance was removed from the album by the time it was released in 2008. From his last solo release in 1998, May has been performing as a solo artist, as part of an ensemble, and infrequently as Queen with Roger Taylor. On 22 October 2000, he made
1600-693: The Rock in Rio Festival since 1985. In 2016, the group embarked across Europe and Asia on the Queen + Adam Lambert 2016 Summer Festival Tour. This included closing the Isle of Wight Festival in England on 12 June where they performed "Who Wants to Live Forever" as a tribute to the victims of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida earlier that day. On 12 September they performed at
1680-708: The Starmus Festival on Tenerife in June 2011, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin 's first spaceflight. May performed "We Will Rock You" and " Welcome to the Black Parade " with the rock band My Chemical Romance at the Reading Festival on 26 August 2011. On 10 October, May made an appearance to celebrate the reunion of rock band The Darkness at an "intimate" 100 Club show with support from Dark Stares . A long-time fan of
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#17327937915821760-667: The Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, Israel for the first time in front of 58,000 people. In September 2018 the group had a residency in the MGM Park Theater in Las Vegas. Though the collaboration remains active, there are currently no plans to record a studio album, though the three are willing to do so in the future. On 31 March 2020, Queen + Adam Lambert confirmed that their touring dates were postponed until 2021 because of
1840-635: The Champions" live on the season finale of American Idol with winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert providing a vocal duet. In November 2009, May appeared with Taylor on The X Factor , with Queen mentoring the contestants, then later performed "Bohemian Rhapsody". In April 2010, May founded the "Save Me" 2010 project to work against any proposed repeal of the British fox-hunting ban, and to promote animal welfare in Britain. In February 2011, it
1920-551: The Champions". The collaboration garnered a positive response from both fans and critics, resulting in speculation about future projects together. Queen + Adam Lambert played two shows at the Hammersmith Apollo, London, on 11 and 12 July 2012. Both shows sold out within 24 hours of tickets going on open sale. A third London date was added for 14 July. On 30 June, Queen + Lambert performed in Kyiv , Ukraine at
2000-626: The Christmas fan club party of 1990. Blue Rock was only released in Germany (although promo copies were released in Italy and Japan). "New Dark Ages" (Taylor) was released in Germany with another live version of "Man On Fire", whilst "Life Changes" was released with the B-side "Heartland". It was however immediately withdrawn, due to the death of Freddie Mercury. The tour was in support of Magnum , so
2080-597: The Good Die Young) " and " Save Me ". After the Live Aid concert in 1985, Mercury rang his band members and proposed writing a song together. The result was " One Vision ", which was basically May on music (the Magic Years documentary shows how he came up with the opening section and the basic guitar riff); the lyrics were co-written by the four band members. For their 1989 release album, The Miracle ,
2160-696: The Opera . May played guitar on the song "Someone to Die For" on the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack in 2004. On the Queen's birthday honours list of 2005, he was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire "for services to the music industry and for charity work". In the same year he played the guitar on the song Il mare... for Italian singer Zucchero Fornaciari , on his album Zu & Co. , and he took part in
2240-533: The Royal Albert Hall, performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin ), drummer Ian Paice (of Deep Purple ), and vocalists Bruce Dickinson (of Iron Maiden ) and Alice Cooper . In a 2013 West End run of Spamalot (the musical adaptation of Monty Python 's 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail ), May was among the celebrities who played the part of voicing God for
2320-549: The SAS Band ("Spike's All Stars"), a group with an ever-changing line-up of 1980s rock stars. It was announced on Spike Edney's Facebook page on 23 July 2013 that The Cross would reunite for one night only at G Live, Guildford, on 7 December, some 20 years after their official break-up. Brian May Sir Brian Harold May CBE (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysicist. He achieved worldwide fame as
2400-505: The Sidewalk ", " Leaving Home Ain't Easy " and " Sail Away Sweet Sister " . May frequently wrote songs for the band and has composed many hits such as " We Will Rock You ", " Tie Your Mother Down ", "I Want It All", " Fat Bottomed Girls ", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and " The Show Must Go On " as well as " Hammer to Fall ", "Flash", " Now I'm Here ", " Brighton Rock ", " The Prophet's Song ", " Las Palabras de Amor ", " No-One but You (Only
2480-497: The US version having "Feel The Force" as its extra track. The band promoted hard in Germany especially, with many TV performances of singles including an appearance at the Montreux Golden Rose festival in 1988. The tour took in dates in the UK and Germany. Three singles were released from the album: "Cowboys and Indians", " Heaven for Everyone " and "Shove It". Another single, "Manipulator," was released in 1988, but it
Shove It - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-516: The US version), Brian May (playing lead guitar on "Love Lies Bleeding") and John Deacon (playing bass guitar on a few tracks), who collaborated with Taylor on the album. The album was poorly received by fans and critics and reached only the bottom of the charts, peaking at 58 at the UK Albums Chart . After two weeks it dropped off the chart. In the US, it failed to chart at all. All songs written by Roger Taylor. Note: The 2nd Shelf Mix
2640-533: The US, supporting Guns N' Roses and headlining a few dates. The tour included dates in North America, Europe (support act: Valentine) and Japan. On 15 June 1993, the band did a show in London that would end up as The Brian May Band 's only release as a collective, namely Live at the Brixton Academy . At the show, May would sing a few lines of "Love of My Life" , and then, as Mercury used to, let
2720-524: The aftermath of the November 1991 death of Mercury , May chose to deal with his grief by committing himself as fully as possible to work, first by finishing his solo album, Back to the Light , and then touring worldwide to promote it. He frequently remarked in press interviews that this was the only form of self-prescribed therapy he could think of. According to Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott , "It
2800-539: The agency's first successful collection and earth delivery of samples directly from an asteroid (the asteroid Bennu ). May is also an animal welfare activist, campaigning against fox hunting and the culling of badgers in the UK . May was knighted by King Charles III in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to music and charity. Brian Harold May was born in 19 July 1947 at Gloucester House Nursing Home in Hampton Hill , near Twickenham , Middlesex . He
2880-539: The album by Deacon and May began originally in 1992 but was left until a later date due to other commitments. In 1995, May began working on a new solo album of covers tentatively titled Heroes , in addition to working on various film and television projects and other collaborations. May subsequently changed the approach from covers to focus on those collaborations and new material. The songs included Another World , and featured mainly Spike Edney , Cozy Powell, Neil Murray and Jamie Moses. On 5 April 1998, Cozy Powell
2960-461: The album himself before finding a band to play the songs with. He eventually placed an advertisement for band members in a national newspaper, hinting he was a famous rock musician. The position of keyboard player was filled by Spike Edney , who had worked with Taylor on two tours with Queen. When the auditions were over, the line-up was completed by Peter Noone on bass, Clayton Moss on guitar, and Josh Macrae on drums. The first album, Shove It ,
3040-454: The album with the intention of releasing it as a solo artist. However, he decided to recruit a band and called them the Cross. Most of the album had been completed prior to recruiting the band members, with Taylor playing much of the instrumentation. The album features Queen members Freddie Mercury (singing lead vocals on the English release of " Heaven for Everyone " and backing vocals on
3120-545: The audience join in. After the tour ended on 18 December 1993, May returned to the studio with fellow surviving Queen band members Roger Taylor and John Deacon to work on tracks that became Made in Heaven , the final Queen studio album. The band took Mercury's solo album demos and last recordings, which he managed to perform in the studio after the album Innuendo was finished, and completed them with their additions both musically and vocally. After Mercury's death, work on
3200-463: The band Smile in 1968. The group included Tim Staffell as the lead singer and bassist, and later, drummer Roger Taylor , who also went on to play for Queen. The band lasted for only two years, from 1968 to 1970, as Staffell departed in 1970, leaving the band with a catalogue of nine songs. Smile would reunite for several songs on 22 December 1992. Taylor's band The Cross were headliners, and he brought May and Staffell on to play "Earth" and " If I Were
3280-429: The band had decided that all of the tracks would be credited to the entire band, no matter who had been the main writer. Interviews and musical analyses tend to help identify the input of each member on each track. May composed "I Want It All" for that album, as well as " Scandal " (based on his problems with the British press). For the rest of the album, he did not contribute much creatively. However, he helped in building
Shove It - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-468: The band, the album and the three singles it spawned did reach the charts in the UK, where it also received some positive press. The band toured in support of the album before Taylor took a short break for the 1989 Queen album The Miracle , for which there was no tour. After Queen's 1986 Magic Tour, the band members went their separate ways to do various solo work. Taylor decided to form a new band with which he could tour. He had already written and recorded
3440-425: The basis of "Party" and "Was It All Worth It" (both being predominantly Mercury's pieces) and created the "Chinese Torture" guitar riff. Queen's subsequent album was Innuendo . May's contributions increased, although more in terms of arranging than actual writing in most cases. He did some of the arrangement for the heavy solo on the title track . He added vocal harmonies to " I'm Going Slightly Mad " and composed
3520-402: The beat of the song. I can listen to any player and pantomime their sound, but I can't do Brian May. He's just walking on higher ground. — Steve Vai His tone immediately grabbed me. Brian has his own style and sound, so you can always tell his work. Even in 1971 he had incredible finesse, amazing fluidity. — Andy Powell , Wishbone Ash May has been referred to as
3600-459: The beginning of "In Charge Of My Heart" was used as the opening to concerts on the accompanying tour. "Closer To You" (Edney) had been planned to be released in America, but the idea was never discussed again. The group having seemingly given up on the UK market, the accompanying tour only included dates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Ibiza. Unusual for such tours, every song from the new album
3680-769: The classic song originally co-written by Shepherd. At the end of the month he also performed songs including " All the Young Dudes " with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott at a Mott the Hoople show at the Shepherd's Bush Empire . In 2024, May contributed guitar to a re-release of Mark Knopfler 's " Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero " in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust . Not long after performing with American Idol finalists Kris Allen and Adam Lambert during
3760-766: The concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London held in May 2004, with the other guests of the Italian bluesman. May was a celebrity guest at the Genesis reunion concert at Twickenham Stadium in 2007. May and Genesis frontman Phil Collins worked together on two previous occasions, at The Prince's Trust Rock Gala in 1988 and the Party at the Palace in 2002, when Collins had played drums with Queen. In 2011 he contributed to
3840-403: The concert lengths were short (45 mins.) and very few bootlegs survived. The tour was rapid, covering 20 dates in one month. EMI Records refused to release a third album by the band. However, as the band had enjoyed moderate success in Germany, EMI's German branch EMI Electrola still released their third effort, Blue Rock (1991), in that country. The band broke up in 1993 after performing
3920-416: The early promotional tour, Eric Singer replaced him on the 1998 world tour. The 1998 tour saw the brief introduction of a 'support act' known as T. E. Conway. Conway (Brian May in a wig and colourful suit playing the part of a teddy boy crooner) would play several 1950s rock and roll standards before May's 'arrival'. A bonus T. E. Conway EP titled Retro Rock Special was attached to some pressings of
4000-516: The first time in 18 years as "Queen", along with Free / Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers . Billed as " Queen + Paul Rodgers ", the band played throughout 2005 and 2006 in South Africa, Europe, Aruba, Japan, and North America and released a new album with Rodgers in 2008, titled The Cosmos Rocks . This album was supported by a major tour. Paul Rodgers left the band in May 2009. It was not until 2011 that another vocalist, Adam Lambert ,
4080-617: The global COVID-19 pandemic. On 4 June 2022, Queen + Adam Lambert opened the Platinum Party at the Palace outside Buckingham Palace to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II . Performing a three-song set, May appeared in front of the Victoria Memorial monument as they opened with "We Will Rock You" which had been introduced in a comedy segment where the Queen and Paddington Bear tapped their tea cups to
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#17327937915824160-579: The group, May performed three songs onstage with The Darkness, including Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down", at the Hammersmith Apollo on their subsequent "comeback" tour. At the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards on 6 November, Queen received the Global Icon Award , which Katy Perry presented to Brian May. Queen closed the awards ceremony, with Adam Lambert on vocals, performing "The Show Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are
4240-467: The lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen , which he co-founded with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor . His guitar work and songwriting contributions helped Queen become one of the most successful acts in music history. May previously performed with Taylor in the progressive rock band Smile , which he had joined while he was at university. After Mercury joined to form Queen in 1970, bass guitarist John Deacon completed
4320-404: The line-up in 1971. They became one of the biggest rock bands in the world with the success of the album A Night at the Opera and its single " Bohemian Rhapsody ". From the mid-1970s until 1986, Queen played at some of the biggest venues in the world, including an acclaimed performance at Live Aid in 1985. As a member of Queen, May became regarded as a virtuoso musician and was identified with
4400-512: The musical We Will Rock You . He produced and arranged her debut studio album Anthems (2010), a follow-up to her extended play Wicked in Rock (2008), as well as appearing with Ellis at many public performances—playing guitar alongside her. He also contributed a guitar solo to Meat Loaf 's Hang Cool, Teddy Bear album in exchange for the use of drummer John Miceli . On 20 May 2009, May and Queen bandmate Roger Taylor performed "We Are
4480-461: The new song composition. On 29 March 2019, May inducted Def Leppard into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . He worked with contemporary metal band Five Finger Death Punch and blues artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd to re-record a new version of " Blue on Black " in support of The Gary Sinise Foundation in April 2019. The artists came together to merge country and mainstream rock to re-create
4560-459: The possibility of working together again. On 18 April 2011, Lady Gaga confirmed that May would play guitar on her track " You and I " from her latest album Born This Way , released on 23 May 2011. May joined Gaga on stage during the performance of "You and I" at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. May performed with Tangerine Dream at
4640-447: The programme's season finale in 2009, May and Taylor began contemplating the future of Queen after the group's amicable split with frontman Paul Rodgers. At the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards, Queen was presented with that year's Global Icon Award, accepted by May. As part of the broadcast, Queen performed a short set with Lambert, receiving an overwhelmingly welcoming response. Speculation regarding collaboration with Lambert soon arose, with
4720-492: The release of Made in Heaven (1995) and the 1997 tribute single to Mercury, " No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young) " (written by May), Queen were put on hiatus for several years but were eventually reconvened by May and Taylor for further performances featuring other vocalists. In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the seventh-greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked at No. 33 on Rolling Stone 's 2023 list of 250 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2012, he
4800-511: The rockin' stuff. I think Brian May has one of the great guitar tones on the planet, and I really, really love his guitar work." Justin Hawkins , lead guitarist of the Darkness , cites May as his earliest influence, saying "I really loved his tone and vibrato and everything. I thought his playing sounded like a singing voice. I wanted to be able to do that. Whenever I went to guitar lessons, I
4880-421: The sale of the single going to benefit animal charities. Welsh electronic musician Jayce Lewis collaborated with May in 2018 on the song We Are One , taken from Lewis' 2018 album release Million . Incorporating a repurposed Finger tapping/Hammering riff from May's solo track Cyborg from his album; Another World (Brian May album) , both artists re-recorded May's guitar at a slower speed, and included it to
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#17327937915824960-552: The solo for " These Are the Days of Our Lives ", a song for which the four of them decided the keyboard parts together. Two songs May had composed for his first solo album, " Headlong " and " I Can't Live With You ", eventually ended up on the Queen project. His other composition was "The Show Must Go On", which he coordinated and was the primary composer. In recent years, he has supervised the remastering of Queen albums and various DVD and greatest hits releases. In 2004, he announced that he and drummer Roger Taylor were going on tour for
5040-431: The song "When Death Calls" on Black Sabbath 's 14th album Headless Cross , and the Living in a Box track "Blow The House Down" on the album Gatecrashing . Both albums were released in 1989. After the tragic break-up of any band, it feels impossible to continue but I was really glad that Brian did launch a solo career. He had such a lot of music in him and a great deal more to give. — Joe Satriani In
5120-415: The three formally announcing a short summer tour of Europe in 2012, including three dates at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, as well as shows in Ukraine, Russia and Poland. The collaboration was revived in 2013, when the three performed together at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on 20 September. Five months later, May, Taylor and Lambert announced
5200-492: The two-day session was a mini album titled Star Fleet Project , which was not originally going to be released. In 1986, May contributed to former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett 's album Feedback 86 , playing guitar on the track "Cassandra" and providing guitar and vocals for "Slot Machine", which May co-wrote. Although produced in 1986, the album was not released commercially until 2000. Another song co-written by May and Hackett during this period, "Don't Fall Away from Me",
5280-487: The village of Hinton Waldrist in Oxfordshire. Along with Elena Vidal , May released a historical book in 2009 titled A Village Lost and Found: Scenes in Our Village . The book is an annotated collection of stereoscopic photographs taken by the Victorian era photographer T. R. Williams . It included a focusing stereoscope . May used a 3D camera to document the history of Queen. May worked extensively with stage actress and singer Kerry Ellis after he cast her in
5360-659: Was May on vocals and lead guitar, Powell on drums and percussion, Michael Casswell on guitar, Neil Murray on bass, and Ryder, Stockley and Thompson on backing vocals. This version of the band was together only during the South American support tour (supporting The B-52's and Joe Cocker ) on five dates. May later made significant changes, feeling the group never quite gelled. May brought guitarist Jamie Moses on board to replace Mike Caswell. The backing vocalists, Ryder, Stockley and Thompson, were replaced by Catherine Porter and Shelley Preston . On 23 February 1993, this new line-up of The Brian May Band began its world tour in
5440-530: Was announced that May would tour with Kerry Ellis, playing 12 dates across the UK in May 2011. At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers, the founder and former lead singer of Free and Bad Company. Brian May's website also stated that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating. Between 2005 and 2006 Queen and Paul Rodgers embarked on
5520-425: Was eventually recorded by Hackett in 1992 for release on his The Unauthorised Biography compilation album. Also in 1986, May worked with actress Anita Dobson on her first album, most noted for the song "Anyone Can Fall in Love", which added lyrics to the EastEnders theme tune and reached number four on the UK Singles Chart in August 1986. May and Dobson married in 2000. In 1988, May contributed guitar solos to
5600-423: Was formed, guitarist Clayton Moss, bassist Peter Noone, and drummer Josh Macrae . The band's albums and singles were not commercially successful, although they did manage to reach the UK Albums Chart with several and they enjoyed moderate success in Germany. The first album, Shove It , was released on Virgin Records in 1987. Largely a solo project for Taylor, who had written the songs prior to forming
5680-420: Was further ranked the second-greatest guitarist in a Guitar World magazine readers poll. In 2001, May was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Queen and, in 2018, the band received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . May was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005 for services to the music industry and for charity work. May earned
5760-512: Was killed in a car accident on the M4 motorway near Bristol , England. This incident caused an unexpected disruption to the upcoming tour for the Brian May Band, which now needed a new drummer on short notice. Steve Ferrone was brought on to help May finish recording the drum tracks and join the band for the early stage promotional tour of five dates in Europe before the world tour. Following
5840-795: Was later released on the Queen album Made in Heaven and won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically & Lyrically in 1996. In late 1992, the Brian May Band was officially formed. May had loosely formed an earlier version of the band for 19 October 1991, when May took part in the Guitar Legends guitar festival in Seville , Spain. The line-up for his performance was May on vocals and lead guitar, Cozy Powell on drums and percussion, Mike Moran and Rick Wakeman on keyboards, and Maggie Ryder , Miriam Stockley and Chris Thompson on backing vocals. The original line-up
5920-463: Was mostly recorded by Taylor before recruiting the rest of the band, they incorporated dance influences (similar to Queen's 1982 album Hot Space ) which were dropped on subsequent albums. Taylor formed the Cross while Queen were on break after the Magic Tour in mid 1987. He recruited Queen's tour keyboardist , Spike Edney , but advertised for the remaining musicians who were, when the band
6000-490: Was not included on any album. It was also the only song from the time that had joint writing credits, Taylor sharing them with Spike Edney and Steve Strange. The second single from Shove It , "Heaven for Everyone", was re-released by the remaining members of Queen, using Freddie Mercury's lead vocal take from the Shove It sessions. It was released as the lead single from the 1995 album Made in Heaven and went on to become
6080-400: Was played live. Made at a time when Taylor's efforts were concentrated on Queen, Blue Rock gave the other members of the band a chance to take control of the upcoming album. It was largely written by Edney, who contributed three of his own tracks and contributed to four more. Once again, the opening track was penned by the entire band, "Bad Attitude" was written (although not complete) by
6160-524: Was recruited. Queen + Adam Lambert toured Europe in 2012 and toured the world tour over 2014 and 2015 . Their most recent outing was the 2016 Festival Tour . They also played the Big Ben New Year concert on New Year's Eve 2014 and New Year's Day 2015. During 1983, several members of Queen explored side projects. On 21 and 22 April in Los Angeles, May was in a studio with Eddie Van Halen , with no intention of recording anything. The result of
6240-580: Was released in 1988. Two tracks featured fellow Queen band members: the track " Heaven for Everyone " featured vocals by Freddie Mercury (backing vocals on the American version of the album, lead vocals on the European edition), while "Love Lies Bleeding (She Was A Wicked, Wily Waitress)" featured Brian May on guitar. The European CD contained an extra track (compared to cassette and LP) in The 2nd Shelf Mix,
6320-408: Was undoubtedly an enormous and terrible blow to lose someone he was so close to. Personally, I know it ripped the heart out of Brian, but having said that, he was in great spirits after the album was finished." Back to the Light featured the single " Too Much Love Will Kill You ", on which he collaborated as a songwriter with Frank Musker and Elizabeth Lamers. A version with Freddie Mercury's vocals
6400-502: Was written by Taylor. "Final Destination" was released as a single, as were "Liar" and "Power To Love", the latter being the last single to be released in the UK by the group. "Final Destination" came with a live rendition of Taylor's song "Man On Fire" as a B-side, and "Liar" (Noone) had a brand new track, "In Charge Of My Heart", which was also penned by Taylor. The 12" single and CD of "Liar" also included extended remixes of both "Liar" and "In Charge Of My Heart". The instrumental section at
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