109-481: Star Fleet Project is a solo project of Brian May , Queen 's guitarist, and a mini-album of the same name. Released as the work of Brian May + Friends, the album features May, guitarist Eddie Van Halen , drummer Alan Gratzer (then of REO Speedwagon ), Phil Chen (session bassist who played with Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart ), and Fred Mandel (keyboard player for Alice Cooper and additional keyboard player on Queen's Hot Space Tour and The Works ). "[T]he result
218-640: 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
327-790: 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
436-640: 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
545-706: 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
654-599: 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
763-664: A blues jam, with Brian and Van Halen trading licks". "[Not as] structured", the song "does carry a nice, bluesy swagger". During this song, "Edward tortures his top string to its audible death and winds up quite naturally on the remaining five". The song "received its first live performance on 7 December 1990 at the Astoria Theatre, when Brian guest-starred on guitar for the last four minutes of The Cross ' Fan Club gig ....[and got] one additional airing on 7 July 2001 at [the Auditorium Stravinksi ] as part of
872-401: 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, 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
981-517: 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
1090-459: 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
1199-598: 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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#17327874266971308-643: 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
1417-486: A little demo I'd done on acoustic guitar and made a little demo tape of how I wanted it to be and they said 'Great, that sounds fine, let's try. ' " Recorded on 21 and 22 April 1983 at the Record Plant Studios , Los Angeles, California, the mini-album was released in October that same year. The record consists of three songs: "Star Fleet", "Let Me Out", and "Blues Breaker". The album name apparently comes from
1526-597: 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
1635-525: 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
1744-430: A platform for Van Halen's soloing skills with ... Star Fleet ". The "strongest" track, the song "[carries] both the energy and full flavor of an early Queen work". "Van Halen's and May's guitar solos bounce off one another like playful lions". This "[bouncing] off one another" is intended, as May explained: "I wanted to play in a sympathetic way to him, to supply the great rhythms that he could play to. I wanted to be
1853-405: A rather good piece of music! ' " "If [composer] Paul [Bliss] hadn't written a very catchy song as the theme tune for that kid's TV science fiction drama series, things would have been different," said May. "The signature tune began to stick in my head, and I could hear my own arrangement of the tune developing in my mind. But how to record it?" There was a seven-month period between when May watched
1962-570: A vinyl single, as well as other collector's items." As part of the marketing for the re-release, May uploaded two videos to his YouTube channels, one promoting the preorder, another of the digital version of "Star Fleet". At least two black long sleeve t-shirts with a yellow Star Fleet star was manufactured, one of which May owned and wore on multiple occasions throughout the 1980s. In November or December 1983 , May wore his shirt during an interview about Star Fleet Project with The Saturday Show 's Scott G. Reilly, and had another shirt in his lap. There
2071-595: 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
2180-481: A way that makes [the album] worth purchasing." "[T]here is so much spirited byplay among ... May and ... Van Halen ... Alan Gratzer ... Phil Chen and ... Fred Mandel that [the mini-album] was just too good to be left sitting in the can." Star Fleet Project was voted Best Spontaneous Recording by Hope College in 1984. In a televised interview with Roger Taylor, also in 1984, May's "interest in [Star Fleet had become] quite well known", to
2289-411: 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
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#17327874266972398-511: Is high-octane rockist instrumentals, instantly Queenish, and not unlike Flash with added fretboard pyrotechnics". The tapes were not intended to be released and received minimal mixing. " Star Fleet Project was called a 'mini-album' by [May] because he thought it ... too short to be a proper album, but too long to be even an EP single". The EP was re-released along with a collection of other session recordings and alternate takes titled Star Fleet Sessions on 14 July 2023. The idea for
2507-627: 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
2616-566: The Montreux Jazz Festival ), with Brian on guitars and vocals, Jon Clearly on piano, Chris Spedding on guitar, John Hatton on bass, Bernie Dresel on drums, and Emily [May], [Jim May], and Anita [Dobson] providing backing vocals." "Queen fans may enjoy the piano blues 'Let Me Out' best, as it sounds like it would have fit right in on News of the World . I can imagine Freddie putting his spin on it quite easily. Brian takes
2725-534: The Red Special and Frankenstrat crossed—and a mug. 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 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
2834-693: 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
2943-708: 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
3052-667: 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
3161-635: 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
3270-551: 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
3379-626: 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
Star Fleet Project - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-597: 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 ,
3597-541: The Light and Another World . "I'm going to do Star Fleet , which is the one with Eddie Van Halen, after that." Following Van Halen's death on 6 October 2020, May stated that "[a]t some point it would be lovely to revisit [ Star Fleet Project ] in depth, but at the moment I'm not. It doesn't feel right now." On the order of re-releases, May explained, "I didn't want to do [ Star Fleet ] first, because I wanted to put my proper solo album out first .... I'll do [ Back to
3706-531: The Light ] first, Another World and then the third one will be Star Fleet ." Another World was re-released on 22 April 2022. As of late November 2022, the re-release process had begun, with May stating that he had begun " 'working on the Star Fleet box set, which is number 3 in the Brian May Gold Series, and probably to be released halfway into next year. ' " May additionally admitted, "I
3815-696: 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
3924-533: 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
4033-505: 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
4142-497: 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
4251-533: 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
4360-472: 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
4469-539: 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
Star Fleet Project - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-540: The album came from May's son Jimmy, a fan of Star Fleet , the English title of Japanese sci-fi puppet TV show X-Bomber . The show, which aired on Saturday mornings, "was compulsive regular viewing for [May] and his 4-year-old son Jimmy ... inspiring [May]'s attachment to its title song". "It was my little boy who really got me keen on it. He said, 'Daddy, Daddy, get up, it's time for Star Fleet!' I had to rush out of bed and tumble downstairs and we used to watch it. I
4687-461: 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 ,
4796-488: The attacks and counter-attacks of May and Van Halen", "a masterpiece ... for its pure spontaneity", is a "long blues jam (edited together from several recorded that day), with no lyrics or vocals .... The liner notes dedicate this piece to E. C. ( Eric Clapton ), and that's where the name comes from." "[W]hen we started ... the Blues Breaker track, I think we kind of had Eric Clapton in our minds and
4905-545: 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
5014-463: 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
5123-429: 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
5232-468: 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
5341-425: 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
5450-402: 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
5559-459: 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
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#17327874266975668-769: 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
5777-766: 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
5886-403: 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
5995-400: The death of Mercury in 1991, aside from the 1992 tribute concert , 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
6104-416: 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
6213-410: The first solo, but next time he says 'Help me, Edward!' and it's Van Halen playing the blues .... Brian and [Edward] alternate, and then [Edward] blazes the fretboard shredder style." The song "wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Queen album ... [and] there are ... some Queen-esque vocal harmonies on the chorus". "Blues Breaker", "a 13-minute piece of improvisation highlighted by
6322-516: 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 ,
6431-617: 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
6540-579: 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
6649-584: 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 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
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#17327874266976758-427: The mini-album as a whole, Van Halen said: That was just a get-together jam. [May] invited me down to ... Record Plant and we played .... After we played, he called me up about four months later and asked what I thought about putting the stuff out. And I said, "Send me the tape, let me hear it first," because I didn't remember how it went. He did and said, "Sure, what the hell." It reeks of fun. The project
6867-646: The mini-album was favorable, as Joe Kleon wrote in Scene magazine: "[May] has appeared in many projects, including the highly-acclaimed 'Star Fleet Project' released in 1983 with [Edward] Van Halen." Referencing Star Fleet Project in comparison to the Ultima Thule Mix of May's song New Horizons , Rolling Stone journalist Kory Grow wrote that "May's first-ever solo recording was also a tribute to space travel." In late 2021, May stated that Star Fleet Project would be re-released following re-releases of Back to
6976-552: The mistakes left in. ' " "Van Halen throws in some tapping and rapid runs as the track progresses whilst May ... keeps it simple but effective .... Fred Mandel gets a piano solo spot ... before the track double-times for the final bars." On the types of guitarists he liked at the time, May told Dave Heffernan in an interview for RTE : "I prefer the kind of people like Jeff Beck or, I mean still Clapton and still Hendrix , I'm very ... maybe call me old-fashioned, I don't know, but also say, Edward Van Halen." On
7085-424: 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 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
7194-512: 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
7303-409: 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
7412-743: The people that Clapton would revere like [B.B.] King , Muddy Waters ; it was the power of the blues which made us gel. I remember [Edward] saying, 'You know, you got me to play today in a way that I haven't played for years.' Just simple and from the heart and with that kind of feeling." Heavy metal magazine Kerrang! said that the song "has something epic, as if every one of the players touched deep into [the] collective music lexicon, and promptly replied to his previous speaker." This song and "Let Me Out" were more spontaneous than "Star Fleet", with May showing off his signature sound and Van Halen using his unique tapping technique to great effect. "May sent ... 'Blues Breaker' to Eric Clapton, who reportedly found
7521-426: The perfect rhythm guitarist, and I grew up as a rhythm guitarist, so that's natural to me. But when we were trading solos ... we were feeding off each other .... We'd never played together before, and yet the chemistry is there. It was as spontaneous as anything could be". "Edward played the solo on 'Star Fleet' three times. Each time it was incredible. Each time it was different". Prior to beginning work on
7630-408: The point where it was openly referenced in a televised interview as an introduction to the 'Star Fleet' music video. The titular song "lived on – at the conclusion of ' One Vision ' on the 1986 Magic tour , [Queen] launched into the ascending false conclusion [of 'Star Fleet'] before [going] into ' Tie Your Mother Down '." This occurred at Råsundastadion and Wembley . By 1993, general perception of
7739-399: 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
7848-447: 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
7957-528: The project, May "attempted to get in touch with the song's writer, British keyboardist Paul Bliss, but was unsuccessful until after the Star Fleet Project was completed." Of this attempted contact, May said, "I tried to get in touch with the guy who had written the song, Paul Bliss, and couldn't at the time. So I pressed on and did some arrangement around a couple of verses and wrote extra middle bit for it. Later I got in touch with him, and he said it
8066-511: 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
8175-421: 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
8284-478: The second "Blues Breaker". In 1993, the songs were re-issued as tracks 6–8 of the Japanese mini-album Resurrection . Although the album did not do well initially—by the end of the year it reached No. 35 in the UK and No. 125 in the US, with the "Star Fleet" single being counted as "a non-starter at 65" that "received no daytime radio airplay", individuals took a liking to the mini-LP—so much so that by 1984, it
8393-405: The sessions." On 1 June 2023, May announced the official re-released was available for preorder, and would be released worldwide on 14 July 2023, days before his 76th birthday. The digital single "Star Fleet" was released on 1 June 2023. The 14 July release, titled Star Fleet Sessions , includes "a spectacular 23-track CD filled with previously unreleased material. Containing 2 CDs, 1 vinyl LP, and
8502-508: 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 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
8611-519: The show with his son and the mini-LP's recording. "We were all in a little bit of downtime in our own projects. Queen was in a bit of a hiatus, and I think Van Halen weren't doing too much and my neighbour [in Los Angeles] Alan Gratzer from R.E.O. [Speedwagon] wasn't doing much and we got together". "I just played [the theme tune] to them, and they were all people who I liked as friends and people who I admired as musicians, and I made
8720-603: 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
8829-483: 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
8938-459: The song to be not terribly bluesy. [Edward Van Halen] was greatly disappointed." More than finding the song "not terribly bluesy", Clapton took insult from the song, finding it horrible. "May was on the defensive when he talked about 'Bluesbreaker', a lengthy jam dedicated to Eric Clapton, which took up all of side two: 'It seemed very indulgent putting out a long jam, but having listened to it, I think it's worthwhile ... it's rock blues with all
9047-479: 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
9156-401: The title track: "Because one song was called 'Star Fleet', [May] dubbed the jam session ... Star Fleet Project". " Star Fleet ", May's hard-rock arrangement of the Star Fleet theme tune with "extended soloing", "soars on more sheer guitar power as the piece is translated into interstellar heavy metal", with heavy emphasis on May's and Van Halen's guitar work, as May "intended to provide
9265-492: 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",
9374-603: 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
9483-669: 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
9592-538: 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 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
9701-723: 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
9810-470: Was a Star Fleet-themed quiz as part of the day's program, the winner had to know Dai-X's name to win a copy of the mini-album, a Star Fleet video cassette tape, and a Star Fleet shirt. With the re-release of Star Fleet Project in 2023, new merchandise was produced and sold, some of it drawing from previous merchandise, such as a cassette tape of the project, long-sleeve shirt, and multiple vinyl records, as well as original designs for tee shirts—such as one with
9919-448: Was a pity that I couldn't find him in the early days because he's got some more verse in the middle – which I'm dying to hear – but it was too late for the project. My song does follow his musical theme, and I used the verse he wrote." Apparently "Brian sent a signed copy of the finished [mini-album] to ... Bliss, with a message thanking him for his composition". "Let Me Out", "an old song of [May's] which found new life", "turns into
10028-448: Was always asking to learn Queen stuff." American guitar virtuoso Steve Vai has spoken highly of May's work, saying: 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
10137-530: 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
10246-406: 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 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
10355-652: 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
10464-542: 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
10573-512: 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
10682-795: 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
10791-463: 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
10900-432: Was never fond of the original mix of 'Star Fleet', the single, so we cleaned that up. Now, EVH's sound is larger than life. You'll hear the development of Eddie's solo, which I always thought was one of the greatest things he did ... a real immortal classic of Ed Van Halen pieces." This re-release is set to include "'every take of every song,' along with conversations, outtakes and musical experimentation recorded during
11009-490: 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
11118-401: Was originally released on Halloween , 31 October 1983, and was later re-released in November of that year. Capitol released "[a] shorter edit of 'Starfleet' ... [a] move [which] proved to be a disaster". Star Fleet Project was released on two CD formats. It was first re-issued as part of May's " Back to the Light " single, in two CDs: the first featured "Star Fleet" and "Let Me Out",
11227-400: 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
11336-584: 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
11445-580: 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,
11554-516: Was reported that the album was "already a cult guitar favorite. Where solo efforts often tend to be politely applauded and then forgotten as an artist's 'indulgence', the raw power of this album has given it instant, unanticipated acceptance .... [May admitted:] 'I must contest I still enjoy it — I still put it on the record player and like what I hear. ' " "[O]n this album May is able to let loose and allow his blues influences to show through .... [T]he expert musicianship shows through in such
11663-408: 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
11772-456: Was very keen on the music and a couple of verses at the end, and I thought, 'One day I should do something because it would be great.' And I could hear it buzzing around in my head the way I wanted to do it." "[M]y little boy had been watching this science fiction series and I always thought that the theme tune for it would be a great vehicle for all-out guitar playing". "And [Jim] said, 'Daddy, you should play that!', and I thought, 'Actually, that's
11881-502: 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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