Brian May was born 19 July 1947 in Hampton, London, as son of Harold and Ruth May.
May formed the band Smile in 1968. The group included Tim Staffell as the lead singer and bassist, and later, drummer Roger Taylor, who also went on to play for Queen. The band lasted for only two years, from 1968 to 1970, as Staffell departed in 1970, leaving the band with a catalogue of nine songs. Smile would reunite for several songs on 22 December 1992. Taylor's band The Cross were headliners, and he brought May and Staffell on to play "Earth" and "If I Were a Carpenter".[26] May also performed several other songs that night.
The guitarist of the famous English band Queen is one of the few guitarists who are always recognizable by its unique sound. That recognizable sound is caused by his style of playing and the timbre of his guitar; the Red Special.
In 1962, Brian started to build his own electric guitar because he did not have the money to buy one. Because he wanted a nice sounding and playable guitar he used components and material he missed in a lot of professional build guitars. Most of the components and materials were 2nd hand; The neck of the guitar was made of a piece Mahoney from an old fireplace. After 18 months building, he finished the guitar in 1963.
Several Guitar-manufacturers tried to build replica''s of the Red Special.
From his last solo release in 1998, May has been performing as a solo artist, as part of an ensemble, and infrequently as Queen with Roger Taylor. On 22 October 2000, he made a guest appearance at the Motorhead 25th Anniversary show at Brixton Academy along with Eddie Clarke (former Motorhead guitarist) for the encore song "Overkill". As part of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebrations on 3 June 2002, May performed a guitar solo of "God Save the Queen" from the roof of Buckingham Palace.