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Submitted by vincent_vega on Fri, 07/27/2007 - 7:50am.

Queen guitarist to complete doctorate

The Associated Press

LONDON — Brian May is completing his doctorate in astrophysics, more than 30 years after he abandoned his studies to form the rock group Queen.

The 60-year-old guitarist and songwriter said he plans to submit his thesis, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud," to supervisors at Imperial College London within the next two weeks.

May was an astrophysics student at Imperial College when Queen, which included Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, was formed in 1970. He dropped his doctorate as the glam rock band became successful.

Queen were one of Britain's biggest music groups in the 1970s, with hits including "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You."

After Mercury's death in 1991, May recorded several solo albums, including 1998's "Another World." But his interest in astronomy continued, and he co-wrote "Bang! The Complete History of the Universe," which was published last year.

He was due to finish carrying out astronomical observations at an observatory on the island of La Palma, in Spain's Canary Islands, on Tuesday, the observatory said.

May told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he had 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."

I have to admit, this is pretty cool. Goes against the common belief about people in rock n' roll. Smart guy, all the memebers of Queen had Degrees or Dipolmas, some with Honours. Great achievement and although he will never see this post, my congrats go out to him.

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Very cool

Impressive that Brian May didn't want just an honorary, he wants to work and earn his actual degree. (I wish Freddie Mercury had survived and was still singing today.)
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I agree

It is a shame about Freddie. I did manage to see Queen+Paul Rogers in 2006 and it was a blistering show. I loved every minute of it. The new album by them should be out late this year or early next!
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Maybe there's hope for me....

At 56, and still playing in clubs, I might be able to become a star and THEN take up brain surgery. LOL Freddie Mercury was ALL of the voices of the choral arrangements for "Rhapsody", as I understand. Even with the overdubbing of a 24 track studio, that much vocal range took some serious chops. Although Rock isn't my first choice in music, Queen was always amazing to me.

"There is only one race, the human race" - The Neville Brothers

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May I make one small correction

Hey, Freddie, Roger Taylor (drummer) and Brian May were the vocal harmonies. John Deacon (bass), claimed he could not sing, thus stayed out of that part. It is said that there were 180 vocal overdubs and they had to keep changing tapes as they were so worn at points that you could see through them!
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New info to me

 I had pick up on some trivia something or other that Mercury did the job himself.  Thanks for the correction.

There was no question that he was the dominant vocalist, though.

"There is only one race, the human race" - The Neville Brothers

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