Guitarist proudly accepts Knighthood from British government
Queen’s Brian May has received Knighthood in 2023 British Honors List. The guitarist has been honored with the title Sir in the 2023 New Year’s Honors List, published Friday, December 30th by King Charles III.
“I’m happy and grateful to receive this honor,” May shares. “I will regard the knighthood not so much as a reward, but more as a charge – a commission – for me to continue to fight for justice – to be a voice for those who have no voice. I will endeavor to be worthy – to be that Knight in Shining Armor.”
May has been recognized as Sir Brian Harold May CBE as a “Musician, Astrophysicist and Animal Welfare Advocate. For services to Music and to Charity.”
May received a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2005 and earned a doctorate in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007.
Last month, Queen was recognized for its 1975 single, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” surpassing two billion streams on Spotify. The feat comes less than two years after the song was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling or streams equivalent of 10 million or more in the US. Queen became the first British group to receive a US Diamond certification.
During the fall, the band released a rediscovered Queen song featuring Freddie Mercury, called “Face It Alone.” The track’s existence was first revealed by May and Taylor in a BBC radio interview at their appearance at this year’s Royal Jubilee concert at which they performed the opening with their regular singer Adam Lambert, with Roger Taylor describing it as “a little gem from Freddie that we’d kind of forgotten about,” with Brian May saying “it’s beautiful, it’s touching.”
The track is featured on the revisiting of the band’s 13th album, The Miracle, the band’s penultimate to be released in Freddie Mercury’s lifetime, which is now available in a lavish eight disc Queen The Miracle Collector’s Edition box set format featuring an LP and CD of the original album, four CDs of bonus material and a Blu-ray and DVD of album videos and interviews. A 2 CD version is also available.
