Global Campus: Creative Writing Competition 2016 | Page 6

Shortlisted
Creative Writing Competition 2016
Name: Douglas
School: Dover Court International School
Age: 11
Word count: 524

Brian May
Brian May (CBE) is a famous guitarist, animal activist and astrophysicist. He was the lead guitarist and one of the
main songwriters in the British rock band Queen.
Early life – He was born on the 19th of July 1947 in Hampton England. Brian May was an only child and went to school
in Hampton grammar school. He achieved three A levels: maths, physics and applied maths. In the early 1960s, he
made his own guitar with his helpful dad and named it the “Red Special”. This action might have inspired him
to become a professional guitarist. He is of English/Scottish descent, with his mother being Scottish. At Hampton
Grammar School, he obtained ten GCE ordinary levels and three A levels (already mentioned above).
Musical career – In 1968, Brian May formed the group Smile. Inside this group was Tim Staffell, a bassist and
lead singer, a drummer named Roger Taylor (who went on to being Queen’s drummer) and of course Brian May.
Unfortunately, Smile only lasted for two years from 1968 to 1970 because Tim Staffell left the band and took nine of
their songs.
That same year the pre-eminent British rock band Queen was made. The band consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury,
guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. Luckily for Brian May, Queen was a much more
confident and successful band lasting for 21 years; nineteen more than Smile. Not only was May a guitarist but, he
was also a brilliant songwriter. He wrote more than a handful of songs for his band, including “We Will Rock You”,
“The Show Must Go On”, and many more. After the tragic death of Freddie Mercury, Brian May was so despondent
he departed to a clinic in Arizona – he said, “I regarded myself as completely sick; I was wounded and in serious
depression”. Soon after that, he finished off his solo album Back to the Light.
Brian May later revived Queen with Roger Taylor, and they performed with Adam Lambert on American Idol and
years later did a worldwide tour, using Lambert as l