Thursday, July 19: Tig’s Rock Birthdays

Happy Birthday today (July 19) to Brian May. The Queen guitarist is 71. Other rockers celebrating include former Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon (71) and singer Russell Allen (Adrenaline Mob, Symphony X) is 47.

Brian May is best known as the lead guitarist for the band Queen. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 26 on their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. May co-founded Queen with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon being brought in before the band recorded their debut album in 1973. The band first charted in the UK with their second release in 1974 but it was the albums Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera that would bring the band worldwide success. The single “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a big hit and featured a popular music video. 1977’s News of the World featured “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”. Queen became one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world by the 1980’s and would go on to sell between 150 and 300 million records worldwide. Cheers to guitar great Brian May on his birthday today!