Editing Brian May (section)

===1970–1995: Queen===
{{Main|Queen (band)}}
[[File:Hannover7907.jpg|thumb|May (right) on stage with Queen in Hannover, Germany, 1979]]
In Queen's three-part vocal harmonies, May was generally the lower-range backing vocalist. On some of his songs, he sings the lead vocals, most notably the first verse of "Who Wants to Live Forever", the final verse of "[[Made in Heaven#"Mother Love"|Mother Love]]", the [[middle eight]] on "[[I Want It All (Queen song)|I Want It All]]" and "[[Flash (Queen song)|Flash's Theme]]", and full lead vocals on "[[Some Day One Day]]", "[[Sheer Heart Attack (album)#"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)"|She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)]]", "[['39 (Queen song)|'39]]", "[[Good Company (Queen song)|Good Company]]", "[[A Day at the Races (album)#Long Away|Long Away]]", "[[All Dead, All Dead]]", "[[Sleeping on the Sidewalk]]", "[[Jazz (Queen album)#"Leaving Home Ain't Easy"|Leaving Home Ain't Easy]]" and "[[Sail Away Sweet Sister]]" .<ref>{{cite news |title=The 10 best Queen songs Freddie Mercury didn't sing |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-best-queen-songs-freddie-didn-t-sing |access-date=19 November 2018 |work=Louder |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120095448/https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-best-queen-songs-freddie-didn-t-sing |archive-date=20 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

May frequently wrote songs for the band and has composed many hits such as "[[We Will Rock You]]", "[[Tie Your Mother Down]]", "I Want It All", "[[Fat Bottomed Girls]]", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "[[The Show Must Go On (Queen song)|The Show Must Go On]]" as well as "[[Hammer to Fall]]", "Flash", "[[Now I'm Here]]", "[[Sheer Heart Attack#"Brighton Rock"|Brighton Rock]]", "[[The Prophet's Song]]", "[[Las Palabras de Amor]]", "[[No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)]]" and "[[Save Me (Queen song)|Save Me]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=Top 10 Brian May Queen songs |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-may-queen-songs/ |access-date=19 November 2018 |work=Ultimate Classic Rock |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120015055/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-may-queen-songs/ |archive-date=20 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Brian may mdp.jpg|thumb|left|200px|May with Queen arriving in Argentina, 1981]]
After the [[Live Aid]] concert in 1985, Mercury rang his band members and proposed writing a song together. The result was "[[One Vision]]", which was basically May on music (the ''Magic Years'' documentary shows how he came up with the opening section and the basic guitar riff); the lyrics were co-written by the four band members.<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web|url=https://allmusic.com/song/one-vision-t1543719|title=Queen – One Vision|work=AllMusic|access-date=27 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110407204829/http://allmusic.com/song/one-vision-t1543719|archive-date=7 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

For their 1989 release album, ''[[The Miracle (album)|The Miracle]]'', the band had decided that all of the tracks would be credited to the entire band, no matter who had been the main writer.<ref name="qcw">{{Cite book|last=Purvis|first=Georg|year=2007|title=Queen Complete Works|publisher=Richmond: Reynolds & Hearn}} p. 67</ref> Interviews and musical analyses tend to help identify the input of each member on each track. May composed "I Want It All" for that album, as well as "[[Scandal (song)|Scandal]]" (based on his problems with the British press). For the rest of the album, he did not contribute much creatively. However, he helped in building the basis of "Party" and "Was It All Worth It" (both being predominantly Mercury's pieces) and created the "Chinese Torture" guitar riff.<ref name="qcw"/>

Queen's subsequent album was ''[[Innuendo (album)|Innuendo]]''. May's contributions increased, although more in terms of arranging than actual writing in most cases. He did some of the arrangement for the heavy solo on the [[Innuendo (song)|title track]]. He added vocal harmonies to "[[I'm Going Slightly Mad]]" and composed the solo for "[[These Are the Days of Our Lives]]", a song for which the four of them decided the keyboard parts together.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Prato |first1=Greg |title=Innuendo overview |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/innuendo-mw0000311477 |website=AllMusic |access-date=19 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117160217/https://www.allmusic.com/album/innuendo-mw0000311477 |archive-date=17 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Two songs May had composed for his first solo album, "[[Headlong (song)|Headlong]]" and "[[I Can't Live With You]]", eventually ended up on the Queen project. His other composition was "The Show Must Go On", which he coordinated and was the primary composer.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Readers' Poll: 10 Greatest Queen Songs |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-10-greatest-queen-songs-17639/8-the-show-must-go-on-86409/ |access-date=19 November 2018 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120015112/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-10-greatest-queen-songs-17639/8-the-show-must-go-on-86409/ |archive-date=20 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In recent years, he has supervised the remastering of Queen albums and various DVD and greatest hits releases. In 2004, he announced that he and drummer Roger Taylor were going on tour for the first time in 18&nbsp;years as "Queen", along with [[Free (band)|Free]]/[[Bad Company]] vocalist [[Paul Rodgers]]. Billed as "[[Queen + Paul Rodgers]]", the band played throughout 2005 and 2006 in South Africa, Europe, Aruba, Japan, and North America and released a new album with Rodgers in 2008, titled ''The Cosmos Rocks''. This album was supported by a major tour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/live/queenpr.htm#2008cosmos|title=2008 The Cosmos Rocks Tour|publisher=Ultimatequeen.co.uk|access-date=27 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928215806/http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/live/queenpr.htm#2008cosmos|archive-date=28 September 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Paul Rodgers left the band<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/paul-rodgers-queen-split-it-was-never-a-permanent-arrangement-20090513|title=Paul Rodgers, Queen Split: "It Was Never a Permanent Arrangement"|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=6 April 2018|date=13 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215001028/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/paul-rodgers-queen-split-it-was-never-a-permanent-arrangement-20090513|archive-date=15 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> in May 2009. It was not until 2011 that another vocalist, [[Adam Lambert]], was recruited.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/21/queen-adam-lambert-freddie-mercury| title=Queen's show goes on as Adam Lambert replaces Freddie Mercury| date=21 February 2012| author=Sean Michaels| work=[[The Guardian]]| access-date=14 December 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210015714/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/21/queen-adam-lambert-freddie-mercury| archive-date=10 December 2017| url-status=live}}</ref> Queen + Adam Lambert [[Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2012|toured Europe in 2012]] and [[Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2014–2015|toured the world tour over 2014 and 2015]]. Their most recent outing was the [[Queen + Adam Lambert 2016 Summer Festival Tour|2016 Festival Tour]]. They also played the [[Queen + Adam Lambert Rock Big Ben Live|Big Ben New Year concert]] on New Year's Eve 2014 and New Year's Day 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/queen-adam-lambert|title=Queen and Adam Lambert to perform New Year's Eve concert broadcast on BBC One|publisher=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=28 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023200247/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/queen-adam-lambert|archive-date=23 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>