A Star Studies the Stars: Renowned Rocker Becomes an Astrophysicist
Thirty years ago Brian May dropped his studies to form the rock group Queen, which produced many popular songs such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You." May became a huge international star, but now he’s applied himself to studying real stars.
Brian May (top center) is completing his doctorate in astrophysics. The 60-year-old guitarist and songwriter will soon be submitting his thesis, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud," to supervisors at Imperial College London.
May was an astrophysics student at that same college when Queen formed in 1970. He dropped his doctorate studies as the glam rock band, which included Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, became a sensation. Apparently Imperial College London was happy to let their former student come back.
After Mercury's death in 1991, May went on to record several solo albums, including 1998's "Another World." Back when he was up on stage making thousands of fans shriek in excitement — no one was really thinking “future astrophysicist”. It’s just not what you’d expect from a rocker. However, May has always had a scholarly side, and he never lost his interested in astronomy.
Instead of writing a memoir about his wild rock-star past, he recently cowrote, "Bang! The Complete History of the Universe". May also contributed his “star power” to the first light ceremony of one of the world's largest and most powerful telescopes, the GTC, which recently turned its 34-foot wide mirror toward the skies on a mountaintop in Spain's Canary Islands. It’s reported that May got to perform some astronomical observations.
"The GTC will be able to reach the weakest and most distant celestial objects of the universe," the institute said.
May told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he has always wanted to complete his degree.
"It was unfinished business," he said. "I didn't want an honorary Ph.D. I wanted the real thing that I worked for."
Which just goes to show that you can’t judge a tight leather clad book by its cover.
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