John Elliott, Social Affairs Correspondent
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WE will, we will blog you! Brian May, the Queen guitarist, who performed with Freddie Mercury on some of rock music’s most rousing anthems, has reemerged as rock’s most prolific blogger.
However, while the band in its heyday was known for its unabashed hedonism, May at 59, with an estimated fortune of £75m, now appears more interested in the settling of scores.
Up to half-a-dozen times a day May is updating his personal blog on his official website, with swipes at bogus fans who want autographs only to sell on eBay, his frustrations with his overheating home computer, and his reflections on astronomy, a subject which he once studied for a PhD.
For anyone who might think that life as a rock star is all fun and glamour — in one iconic television spectacular he played his guitar on the rooftop of Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s 2002 jubilee celebrations — an anecdote from earlier this month provides a corrective.
“Bri[an] tired and disillusioned tonight — just went to a lot of trouble to speak at a dinner to honour our tour manager . . . But nobody listened,” writes May, “they just drank and jabbered and smoked their . . . cigars. Yuk. I came home with clothes stinking of smoke, and throat all messed up, and eyes sore.”
Worse still, that night saw a joke about May’s famously long black curly hair and that of his wife, Anita Dobson, who sported a similar style when she played Angie Watts in EastEnders during the 1980s. “The guy who was MCing the event — Suggs, the singer from Madness — introduced me with a sad old joke about my and Anita’s hair. Ha frigging ha. How disappointing people can be.”
May — whose success with Queen has brought him a mansion in Surrey and a house in Kensington, west London — also vents his annoyance with his new Apple Mac computer, complaining that it will not let him colour-code his computer files in the way he wishes and also gets hot. Despite putting a “pharmaceutical cold pack” underneath the machine, he rails against “the HEAT!! The AWFUL HEAT . . . it’s utter misery . . . it STILL burns my thighs . . . and makes me break out in a sweat after about 20 minutes. This really sucks”.
May’s hatred of smoking is the subject of many entries but he also reveals other bugbears. An otherwise enjoyable day watching cricket at the Oval prompts the reflection: “Mobile camera phones, the bane of anybody-famous’s life these days.”
However, May, who used to perform frivolous songs such as Fat Bottomed Girls and Tie Your Mother Down, writes in deadly earnest when he gets on to the subject of hunting, animal testing and cruelty to animals in general.
His blog entry for November 5 last year sees him in a furious state: “Couldn’t sleep. Was depressed all day, after seeing on the TV news those horrible insensitive cruel bastards in red coats, smirking about how they can still get away with their disgusting primitive pastime, flouting the law of the land.” Plans by the American state of Wisconsin to slaughter nonnative swans, and a project to eradicate hedgehogs from the Hebridean island of Uist, prompt May to cry “JUST STOP IT, you morons”.
On the subject of the stingray that killed Steve Irwin, the daredevil Australian naturalist, last year May rages: “I cannot believe that some Aussies have been out there ‘avenging’ the death of Steve Irwin — by mutilating innocent stingrays . . . You stupid, stupid, ignorant misguided idiots.”
When he turns his attention to astronomy, May demands to be taken seriously. He is irritated by a review of Bang! The Complete History of the Universe, a book that he co-wrote with Sir Patrick Moore, presenter of BBC television’s The Sky at Night, and Chris Lintott. The review suggested that the book is best for “younger readers”.
May responds: “Most astronomers, whom I regard as more competent to make a judgment in this area, have thought the book very suitable for first year undergraduate studies of astronomy.”
The life of Brian
'Back to reading recent astronomical papers on research into Zodiacal Dust. Oh, and we have a Queen band meeting tomorrow! Who am I? Cheers, Bri'
'I swear I will use all my to try to turn the human race around... and make it head towards something we can be proud of. It will not be easy'
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Sounds hilarious, but you might have included a link to May's blog in the body of the text.
Readers will come back you know.
Eursoc, Paris, France
What a waste of time..... (this article)
Jürgen, Dinklage, Germany
Hi, yes, have something to say.....
why don't you go read MR. DR. Brian's Soapbox now?!
I see you didn't give his link in YOU"RE "ramblings" either.......it's Brianmay.com
please have some RESPECT!! He's not only a genius, a true legend, but the SWEETEST guy in rock!! He can say whatever he pleases... his soapbox, his site, his views and opinions! ~ and VERRY good views n opinions I might ADD !
Kelly, Houston, TX. USA
Whether you agree with his position on a given subject or not, Mr. May is voicing his concerns and opinions for those who care to listen objectively. If you don't care to consider his opinions, quit wasting your time and upsetting yourself by visiting his site. Personally, I like Mr. May's web site. Mr. Elliott's article seems to be motivated more by a personal dislike for Mr. May and anything associated with him than for any substantive cause but I give him the same consideration I give Mr. May. It is his opinion. The pity is that Mr. May's comments concern animal rights, astronomy and the frustrations of everyday life as he knows it while Mr. Elliott's comments attempt only to belittle and deride. There's far too much negativity in the world already. Debate the issues if you disagree. Don't assassinate the character of the messenger.
Gregg Thomas, Flower Mound, Texas, USA
Brian May updates his blog up to half a dozen times a day? Really? Nothing like letting the facts get in the way of a story eh?
Ed Carter, Wellingborough, England
If being the social correspondent to The Sunday Times means spending all week copying and pasting selected entries from other people websites, then please keep me in mind when the job shortly becomes available.
Despite Dr May requesting that readers of his website to not plagiarise it, especially without providing the address of his site, I feel your correspondent to be overly selective. Reading the site you can see that there is more than "swipes at bogus fans who want autographs only to sell on eBay."
You fail to mention the help and support he gave to a young girl dying of cancer who's website is still linked to his site.
You also fail to mention the work he does for charities, such as the Mercury Phoenix trust, or The British Bone Marrow Donors assoc.
Many people have strong feelings about animal cruelty, yet your correspondent seems to vilify May as if he were sending bombs through the post to vivisectionists.
Not the sort of reporting expected of the times, more the Sunday Sport
A Hughes, Fareham, United Kingdom
He needs to spend his time using 75 million constructively not vegging in front of a computer, the bane of modern minds with nothing interesting to say.
m. durgut, waddell, arizona usa