Editing Brian May (section)

==Early life==
Brian Harold May was born on 19 July 1947<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2019/07/19/Famous-birthdays-for-July-19-Brian-May-Anthony-Edwards/2631563201127/|title= Famous birthdays for July 19: Brian May, Anthony Edwardsl|work=[[United Press International]]|date=19 July 2019|access-date=7 August 2019|archive-date=19 July 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190719123258/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2019/07/19/Famous-birthdays-for-July-19-Brian-May-Anthony-Edwards/2631563201127/|url-status=live|quote= Queen guitarist Brian May in 1947 (age 72)}}</ref> at Gloucester House Nursing Home in [[Hampton Hill]], near [[Twickenham]], [[Middlesex]].<ref name="whoswho" /><ref name="Tremlett 1976 12">{{cite book |last=Tremlett |first=George |date=1976 |title=The Queen Story |publisher=Futura Publications |page=12 |isbn=0860074129}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 July 2023 |title=On This Day in Queen History - 19 July |url=https://brianmay.com/on-this-day/on-this-day-in-queen-history-19-july/ |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=brianmay.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> He is the only child of Ruth Irving (''née'' Fletcher) and Harold May, who worked as a [[drafter|draughtsman]] at the [[Ministry of Aviation]].<ref name="Grdn2014" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbapr13a.html|title=Brian's Soapbox April 2013|website=brianmay.com|access-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328150630/https://brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbapr13a.html|archive-date=28 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> His mother, who was Scottish, married his father, who was English, at [[Moulin, Scotland|Moulin]] in Perthshire, Scotland in 1946.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbsep14a.html#13| title=I'm Exactly Half English and Half Scot...| work=Brian's Soapbox| date=13 September 2014| access-date=28 October 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329204243/http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbsep14a.html#13| archive-date=29 March 2015| url-status=live}}</ref> May attended the local Hanworth Road state primary school, and at the age of 11 won a scholarship to [[Hampton School|Hampton Grammar School]],<ref name="Tremlett 1976 12"/> then a [[voluntary aided]] school.<ref name=whoswho/><ref name=Grdn2014>{{cite news|last1=Huntman|first1=Ruth|title=Brian May: Me, my dad and 'the old lady'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/18/brian-may-queen-guitar-red-special-dad|access-date=25 October 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=17 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025073248/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/18/brian-may-queen-guitar-red-special-dad|archive-date=25 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Queen: The Early Years | last = Hodkinson | first = Mark | page = 40 | publisher = Omnibus Press | date = 1995 | isbn = 978-1-84449-012-7}}</ref> During this time, he formed his first band, named ''1984'' after [[George Orwell]]'s novel [[Nineteen Eighty-Four]], with vocalist and bassist [[Tim Staffell]].<ref name="rcnov95">{{cite web |url= http://www.brianmay.com/queen/queenbeforequeen/rcnov95/rcnov95.html |title= The dude in the cardigan with the guitar |access-date= 27 July 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060819231351/http://brianmay.com/queen/queenbeforequeen/rcnov95/rcnov95.html |archive-date= 19 August 2006 |url-status= live }}</ref>

At Hampton Grammar School, May attained ten [[GCE Ordinary Level]]s and three [[GCE Advanced Level]]s in physics, mathematics, and applied mathematics.<ref name="rcnov95"/> He studied mathematics and physics at [[Imperial College London]], graduating with a [[Bachelor of Science|BSc]] degree in physics in 1968 with honours.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2008210/List-of-lists-Celebrities-and-remarkable-people.html|title=List of lists: Celebrities and remarkable people|date=22 May 2008|work=The Telegraph|access-date=27 September 2014|last1=Moore|first1=Matthew|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025165317/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2008210/List-of-lists-Celebrities-and-remarkable-people.html|archive-date=25 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Following his graduation, May received a personal invitation from [[Bernard Lovell|Sir Bernard Lovell]] to work at the [[Jodrell Bank Observatory]] while continuing to prepare his doctorate. He declined, choosing instead to remain at Imperial College to avoid breaking from Smile, the London-based band he was in at the time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tremlett |first=George |date=1976 |title=The Queen Story |publisher=Futura Publications |page=13 |isbn=0860074129}}</ref>

In 2007, May earned a PhD degree in astrophysics from Imperial College London for work started in 1971.<ref name=mayphd/><ref name=mathgene/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://riaus.org.au/people/brian-may/ |title=Brian May |date=15 January 2011 |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521210752/http://riaus.org.au/people/brian-may/ |archive-date=21 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="Queen star hands in science PhD">{{cite news|title=Queen star hands in science PhD |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6929290.stm |access-date=3 August 2007 |date=3 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325183655/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6929290.stm |archive-date=25 March 2008 }}</ref>