DAVE’S UNIVERSE
17 June 2013 by David Eicher
Many of you know that Brian May, guitarist, vocalist, and founding member of the rock group Queen, is also a Ph.D. astrophysicist, having completed his degree on zodiacal dust in the solar system years after his success with the band began. In addition to being a musician and scientist, Brian is active in promoting animal welfare, particularly with the badger cull situation in England, and very active with his stereophotographic interests as well. You may also know that Brian is a member of Astronomy magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board.
The last time I saw Brian in person was at Queen’s Cincinnati concert in late 1978, when I was 17 and working on Deep Sky Monthly magazine in my spare time from high school. Having worked on the Starmus book with Brian and mutual friend Garik Israelian this spring and being involved in the Starmus Festival this fall in the Canary Islands, where Brian will also speak, I’m really excited that Queen is touring in North America this summer.
I’ll be lucky enough to be Brian’s guest for the tour’s opening show this Thursday night in Chicago at the United Center, where he and Queen bandmate Roger Taylor will join vocalist Adam Lambert and others to produce a fully rocked-out Queen show. It will be a fantastic treat — and I encourage you to see Queen on this tour, too! I’ll be bringing along my wife Lynda, son Chris, and colleague Rich Talcott and his wife, Evelyn (Rich contributed to the Starmus book and is a longtime Queen fan, too).
The band will play many cities in the United States, Canada, and Australia over the coming weeks. This is the chance of a lifetime! Don’t miss it! For more info, see Brianmay.com.