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Rock Star, and Up Among The Heavens

31 Oct 2006

ROCK STAR, AND UP AMONG THE HEAVENS

MEDIA LIFE MAGAZINE
Popcult
By Heidi Dawley
Oct 30, 2006

We know Brian May as lead guitarist for Queen

It got off with a bang, as you would expect, the rock star sashaying into the room wearing a glam burgundy velvet jacket and matching clogs, and there he was, Brian May, the lead guitarist from the rock band Queen.

But this press conference, attended by the usual mugs of the London press corps, was not about what you would expect. May was not about to announce that he was going into rehab or getting a divorce or suddenly gay after all these years.

It was about his new book, and it was quite the talk already and soon to shoot into the top 30 of current best-sellers on Amazon’s British web site. (And no, it was not a book of children’s fiction, as Madonna and Sir Paul McCartney have written.)

May has co-authored a history of the universe. It’s called “Bang! The Complete History of the Universe” and written with astronomers Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott. And therein lies this interesting tale. How does a rock star go about writing a book about astrophysics?

As it turns out, before he made it big with Freddie Mercury in Queen, May had nearly completed a PhD in astrophysics at Imperial College, one of Britain’s highly respected universities.

“Astronomy and music go back a long way together for me,” May tells the press mob. Back actually to age seven. That was the year he got his first guitar and the year he first saw a TV show, “The Sky at Night,” which was hosted by Moore. The show still airs monthly. It was the music of "Sky" and the subject matter that ignited the twin passions May has pursued ever since.

As a kid, May convinced his dad to let him stay up late to watch “Sky.” He also gazed at the stars through the telescope he made with his dad--a telescope he still uses today. Yet all the while he was also developing his musical side.

For years, the sensible side won out. May studied astronomy. But eventually, while he was rewriting--for the second time--his doctorate and teaching math, things hotted up with Queen, the band he was in on the side. He decided to turn his back on the stars.

“I was shepherded toward a degree in science, but when I was in my twenties, the music took over,” he says in his soft spoken, laid-back way. At least initially his father was not pleased.

But May still kept up his interest in astronomy during the intervening 30-plus years of rock stardom, keeping abreast of new discoveries and in touch with people in the field.

Then, while on a trip to Scotland to see an annular solar eclipse, Moore, who May had known for some years, suggested they write a book. May took some convincing, believing that he wouldn’t have much to offer, but eventually came around to the idea.

While writing the book, May says he found he did have something to offer, a great attention to detail and the ability to read the text to decide if it was accessible to the general audience it was aimed at. As he reasoned, if he could understand the text, anyone could.

May has also begun work again on his doctorate on zodiacal dust with a view to finally finishing his PhD. But he hasn’t abandoned his music. He says he is currently in the studio with the view to possibly recording some more music.

When asked about the seemingly disparate nature of his two passions, May says there are actually commonalities.“The best astronomers and the best musicians share unusual qualities,” he says. To excel in either field you have to let your instincts run wild, he says. You have to be freethinking and lateral thinking, as well as having a side that is analytical.

Just what would Freddie Mercury have made of the book, which is expected to come out in the U.S. next year? “He loved anything unusual and exciting,” says May of the band leader, who died in 1991 of AIDS. “He would have been proud and of me and put it on his coffee table and showed it to people.”

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