Brian May, lead guitarist of rock band Queen, receives knighthood from King Charles III
By Lianne Kolirin and Zoe Sottile, CNN
Legendary rock guitarist Brian May has received a knighthood from Britain’s King Charles III.
May, who was a founding member of the band Queen, will now be known as Sir Brian, following the investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
The star received the title of Knight Bachelor for his services to music and to charity. He attended the ceremony alongside his wife, Anita Dobson, a former star of long-running British TV soap “EastEnders.”
Congratulating him online, a tweet from Queen’s official account said: “Arise Sir Brian May
“Brian’s investiture as a Knight of The Realm took place today at Buckingham Palace. The knighthood was presented to Brian by His Royal Highness, King Charles.
“Many congratulations, Sir Brian!”
There was also a post on the royal family’s official Twitter account about the event, picturing May alongside British saxophonist YolanDa Brown, who was also honored.
May, 75, was one of more than 1,000 people honored on King Charles III’s first New Year’s honors list, announced in December 2022.
In addition to performing with Queen since the 1970s, May is also an astrophysicist. He received his PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007 after taking a break from his studies in the 1970s to focus on the band.
He is also a vocal supporter of animal rights and critic of hunting. In 2010, he formed an organization called the Save Me Trust, to campaign against fox hunting and badger culling in the UK.
May isn’t the only member of Queen to have received a royal title. Drummer Roger Taylor was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2020. May previously received the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2005.
May famously performed a rendition of “God Save the Queen” from the roof of Buckingham Palace at Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
Twenty years later, he performed with Queen for the same monarch’s Platinum Jubilee Concert.
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