Events

17 – Germanicus returns to Rome as a conquering hero; he celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti and other German tribes west of the Elbe.

451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place. The Empire defeats the Armenians militarily but guarantees them freedom to openly practice Christianity.

1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in the Cathedral of Leon as ''Imperator totius Hispaniae'', "Emperor of all of Spain".

1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 30,000.

1328 – William of Ockham, Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.

1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.

1637 – Pequot War: A combined Protestant and Mohegan force under English Captain John Mason attacks a Pequot village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Native Americans.

1647 – Alse Young, hanged in Hartford, Connecticut, becomes the first person executed as a witch in the British American colonies.

1736 – Battle of Ackia: British and Chickasaw soldiers repel a French and Choctaw attack on the Chickasaw village of Ackia, near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi. The French, under Louisiana governor Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, had sought to link Louisiana with Acadia and the other northern colonies of New France.

1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.

1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at Trumbull, Connecticut celebrated end of fighting in American Revolution.

1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in the Duomo di Milano, the gothic cathedral in Milan.

1822 – 116 people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway's history.

1828 – Feral child Kaspar Hauser is discovered wandering the streets of Nuremberg.

1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.

1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.

1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.

1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.

1868 – The impeachment trial of U.S. President Andrew Johnson ends with Johnson being found not guilty by one vote.

1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.

1896 – Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia.

1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

1897 – ''Dracula'', a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published.

1906 – Vauxhall Bridge is opened in London.

1908 – At Masjed Soleyman (مسجد سليمان) in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon, killing 101 people and injuring 689.

1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.

1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for 10 hours.

1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.

1940 – World War II: Battle of Dunkirk – In France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.

1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bir Hakeim takes place.

1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.

1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.

1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.

1972 – Willandra National Park is established in Australia.

1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

1977 – George Willig climbs the South Tower of New York City's World Trade Center.

1981 – Prime Minister of Italy Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 ''(Propaganda Due)''.

1983 – A strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan, triggering a tsunami that kills at least 104 people and injures thousands. Many people go missing and thousands of buildings are destroyed.

1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.

1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.

1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 crashes in rural Thailand, killing 223.

1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.

2004 – The United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.

2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.

Births

1264 – Prince Koreyasu, Japanese shogun (d. 1326)

1478 – Pope Clement VII (d. 1534)

1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (d. 1603)

1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, French painter (d. 1674)

1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, British general (d. 1722)

1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French mathematician (d. 1754)

1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (d. 1722)

1689 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (d. 1762)

1700 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (d. 1760)

1764 – Edward Livingston, American jurist and statesman (d. 1836)

1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French writer (d. 1896)

1863 – Robert James "Bob" Fitzsimmons, Boxing champion (d. 1917)

1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American artist (d. 1933)

1867 – Mary of Teck, queen consort of George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)

1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian artist (d. 1958)

1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and music educator (d. 1967)

1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer (d. 1946)

1886 – Al Jolson, American singer (d. 1950)

1893 – Norma Talmadge, American actress (d. 1957)

1893 – Eugène Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)

1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer (d. 1965)

1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian actor (d. 1971)

1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)

1899 – Antonio Barrette, French Canadian politician (d. 1968)

1904 – George Formby, English singer and comedian (d. 1961)

1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Polish pianist (d. 2002)

1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician (d. 2006)

1907 – John Wayne, American actor (d. 1979)

1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)

1908 – Nguyen Ngoc Tho, Vietnamese politician

1909 – Sir Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)

1909 – Nikolay Guryanov, Russian mystic and priest (d. 2002)

1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician (d. 1969)

1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Israeli martial artist (d. 1998)

1911 – Ben Alexander, American actor (d. 1969)

1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian politician (d. 1989)

1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor (d. 1980)

1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)

1914 – Frankie Manning, American Lindy Hop dancer (d. 2009)

1915 – Sam Edwards, American actor (d. 2004)

1915 – Antonia Forest, British children's author (d. 2003)

1916 – Moondog, American composer, musician and poet (d. 1999)

1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist (d. 1972)

1917 – Eva Szorenyi, Hungarian actress (d. 2009)

1918 – Anton Christoforidis, Greek boxer (d. 1985)

1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer (d. 2002)

1921 – Ernst Märzendorfer, Austrian conductor (d. 2009)

1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)

1923 – Roy Dotrice, British actor

1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor

1926 – Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer (d. 1991)

1926 – Phyllis Gotlieb, Canadian author

1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist and right-to-die advocate (d. 2011)

1929 – J.F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian

1930 – Karim Emami, Iranian translator (d. 2005)

1932 – Grigor Vachkov, Bulgarian actor (d. 1980)

1935 – Sheila Steafel, South African–born British actress

1938 – William Bolcom, American composer

1938 – Pauline Parker, New Zealander murderer

1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian playwright and novelist

1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano

1939 – Merab Kostava, Georgian anti-Soviet leader (d. 1989)

1939 – Jaki Liebezeit German musician (Can)

1939 – Brent Musburger, American sports broadcaster

1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, French Canadian politician

1940 – Levon Helm, American musician (The Band)

1941 – Reg Bundy, British performer (d. 2003)

1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player

1942 – Ganapathi Sachchidananda, Indian spiritual figure

1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer and politician

1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver, TV commentator and author

1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian drummer (The Guess Who)

1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian politician

1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian Rhythmic gymnastics coach

1946 – Mick Ronson, English musician (d. 1993)

1948 – Stevie Nicks, American songwriter

1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer and inventor

1949 – Pam Grier, American actress

1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor

1949 – Joe Alaskey, American voice actor

1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer

1951 – Sally Ride, American astronaut

1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish politician

1952 – David Meece, Christian musician

1953 – Kay Hagan, American politician

1953 – Michael Portillo, British politician

1954 – Marian Gold, German singer (Alphaville)

1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, British novelist

1954 – Danny Rolling, American murderer (d. 2006)

1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese chef

1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player

1956 – Frédéric Dutoit, French politician

1957 – Margaret Colin, American actress

1957 – Diomedes Diaz, Colombian singer

1957 – François Legault, French Canadian politician

1957 – Kristina Olsen, American musician

1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian racing driver

1957 – Pontso S.M. Sekatle, Lesotho academic and politician

1959 – Steve Hanley, English musician (The Fall, Tom Hingley and the Lovers)

1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish film director, actor and producer

1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese racing driver

1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player

1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian film director

1962 – Genie Francis, American actress

1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor

1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American writer

1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American musician

1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball coach

1965 – Hazel Irvine, British television presenter

1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress

1966 – Zola Budd, South African athlete

1967 – Phil Doyle, Australian writer

1967 – Kevin Moore, American musician (OSI)

1968 – Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

1968 – Pat Kenney, American professional wrestler

1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish film director

1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer

1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician

1969 – Musetta Vander, South African actress

1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese cartoonist

1971 – Timothy Allen, British photojournalist

1971 – Matt Stone, American animator and filmmaker

1972 – Patsy Palmer, British actress

1972 – Kylie Ireland, Adult film actress, radio host and street artist

1974 – Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer

1975 – Nicki Aycox, American actress

1975 – Travis Lee, American baseball player

1976 – Justin Pierre, American singer (Motion City Soundtrack)

1976 – Kenny Florian, American Mixed Martial Artist

1977 – Nikos Hatzivrettas, Greek basketball player

1977 – Mark Hunter, American musician (Chimaira)

1977 – Misaki Ito, Japanese actress and model

1977 – Raina Telgemeier, American cartoonist

1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer

1978 – Phil Elverum, American singer-songwriter

1978 – Fabio Firmani, Italian footballer

1979 – Elisabeth Harnois, American actress

1979 – Ashley Massaro, American model and professional wrestler

1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player

1981 – Robert Copeland, Australian Australian rules footballer

1981 – Eda-Ines Etti, Estonian singer

1981 – Irini Merkouri, Greek singer

1981 – Isaac Slade, American musician (The Fray)

1981 – Jason Manford, British comedian

1982 – Yoko Matsugane, Japanese model

1982 – David Reed, British writer and comedian

1983 – Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer

1983 – Henry Holland, British fashion designer

1987 – Valerie Garcia, Filipina actress

1987 – Josh Thomas, Australian comedian

1988 – Joel Selwood, Australian footballer

1989 – Paula Findlay, Canadian triathlete

1991 – Julianna Rose Mauriello, American actress

Deaths

604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury

735 – The Venerable Bede, English historian and theologian (b. 672 or 673)

818 – Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (b. 766)

946 – King Edmund I of England (b. 921)

1055 – Margrave Adalbert of Austria

1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1389)

1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan

1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet

1595 – Philip Neri, Italian churchman (b. 1515)

1647 – Alse Young, American "witch"

1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet (b. 1597)

1651 – Jeane Gardiner, British woman executed for witchcraft

1653 – Robert Filmer, English writer (b. 1588)

1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)

1685 – Karl II, Elector Palatine (b. 1651)

1703 – Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (b. 1633)

1742 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian Zaporozhian Cossack starshina, diplomat (b. 1672)

1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (b. 1714)

1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish judge (b. 1714)

1818 – Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian military commander (b. 1761)

1818 – Manuel Rodríguez, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader, considered one of the founders of independent Chile (b. 1785)

1824 – Capel Lofft, English writer (b. 1751)

1831 – Ciro Menotti, Italian patriot (b. 1798)

1840 – Sidney Smith, Royal Navy admiral (b. 1764)

1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist (b. 1824)

1883 – Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri, Algerian political and military leader (b. 1808)

1883 – Edward Sabine, Irish astronomer (b. 1788)

1902 – Almon Strowger, American inventor (b. 1839)

1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French neurologist (b. 1857)

1907 – Ida McKinley, First Lady of the United States (b. 1847)

1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam (b. 1835)

1914 – Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and social reformer (b. 1849)

1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish composer (b. 1859)

1933 – Horatio Bottomley, British financier and politician (b. 1860)

1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer (b. 1897)

1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American medical practitioner (Mayo Clinic) (b. 1865)

1943 – Edsel Ford, American automobile executive (b. 1893)

1943 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish composer and organist (b. 1864)

1944 – Christian Wirth, commandant of Belzec extermination camp (b. 1885)

1948 – Theodor Morell, Hitler's personal physician (b. 1886)

1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American scientist (b. 1880)

1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete (b. 1900)

1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver and two-time F1 world champion (b. 1918)

1966 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (b. 1894)

1968 – Little Willie John, American singer (b. 1937)

1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (b. 1937)

1969 – Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation pioneer (Lockheed Corporation (b. 1889)

1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss racing driver (b. 1941)

1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher (b. 1889)

1976 – Juan Maino, Chilean leader of MAPU, "disappeared"

1977 – William Powell, American singer (The O'Jays) (b. 1942)

1978 – Cybele, Greek actress (b. 1887)

1979 – George Brent, British actor (b. 1899)

1989 – Don Revie, Former footballer and England and Leeds United Manager (b. 1927)

1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor (b. 1906)

1999 – Waldo Semon, American inventor (b. 1898)

2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian racing driver (b. 1937)

2001 – Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)

2001 – Moven Enock Mahachi, Defence Minister of Zimbabwe (b. 1952)

2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)

2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American writer (b. 1919)

2004 – Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)

2004 – Dullah Omar, South African lawyer (b. 1934)

2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)

2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1928)

2005 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist (b. 1937)

2006 – Édouard Michelin, CEO of Michelin (b. 1963)

2006 – Kevin O'Flanagan, Irish athlete and physician (b. 1919)

2007 – J Edward Oliver, cartoonist and composer (b. 1942)

2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1934)

2008 – Zita Urbonaitė, Lithuanian road cyclist (b. 1973)

2009 – Stanley Chapman, British architect, designer, translator and writer (b. 1925)

2009 – Mihalis Papagiannakis, Greek politician (b. 1941)

2009 – Peter Zezel, Canadian professional hockey player (b. 1965)

2010 – Jean Constantin, Romanian actor (b. 1928)

2010 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television personality (b. 1912)

2010 – Christopher Moran, British Air Chief Marshal (b. 1956)

2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish senator (b. 1949)

2010 – Jarvis Williams, American football player (b. 1965)

2011 – Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author and playwright (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Day:

*Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)

*Lambert of Vence

*Philip Neri

*Quadratus of Athens

*Zachary, Bishop of Vienne

*May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Crown Prince's Birthday (Denmark)

Independence Day, commemorate the day of the First Republic in 1918. (Georgia)

Independence Day, celebrate the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.

Mother's Day (Poland)

National Sorry Day (Australia)

External links

BBC: On This Day

On This Day in Canada

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Category:Days of the year Category:May

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Jim Cornette
Names	Jim CornetteJames E. Cornette
Height
Weight
Birth name	James Mark Cornette
Birth date	September 17, 1961
Birth place	Louisville, Kentucky
Debut	1982
Religion	atheist

James Mark "Jim" Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He has also worked as an on-screen character in an authoritative role; as "Commissioner" of Ring of Honor and "Management Director" (and off-screen road agent) for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Cornette currently acts as Executive Producer of Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet and the head booker of Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Career

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Cornette always loved wrestling, reportedly installing a ten-foot antenna on top of his house as a youth so he could watch as much regional wrestling as possible. He began working at wrestling events at the age of 14, serving as a photographer, ring announcer, magazine correspondent, and public relations correspondent. In 1982, promoter Jerry Jarrett made the 21-year old Cornette the manager of Sherri Martel and gave Cornette the gimmick of a rich kid turned inept manager whose clients kept firing him after one match. The most notable wrestlers in this angle were Dutch Mantell and Crusher Broomfield (who would later gain fame as The One Man Gang and Akeem, The African Dream).

In 1983 he managed a trio of wrestlers in Nashville consisting of Carl Fergie, Norman Fredrich Charles III, and the Angel, a trio that he called the "Cornette Dynasty". At the end of 1983 he would take on his best-known role becoming the frontman for the Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton, and later Stan Lane). With Cornette as manager, the team were 2-time National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Tag Team Champions and 2-time NWA United States Tag Team champions. As a manager, Cornette was known for both his loud mouth and for his ever-present tennis racket, which Cornette often used to ensure victory for his wrestlers, with the implication that the racket case was loaded. Cornette was at his best as a heel manager; fans loved to see the constantly-yelling Cornette and his equally annoying charges beaten and humiliated. He and the Midnights were so hated, in fact, that they had to be escorted by police to and from the ring at the house shows and have a police escort to the city limits for fear of being attacked by overzealous fans. Additionally, Cornette suffered serious injuries to his knee during a scaffold match between the Midnight Express and the Road Warriors at Starrcade '86; when dropping to the mat from the edge of the 20 ft. high scaffold, Cornette didn't allow his legs to buckle quickly enough because he hoped to have a waiting Big Bubba Rogers there to cushion his fall. Rogers was supposed to catch Cornette in mid-air, preventing any damage. But because Rogers was wearing sunglasses he misjudged his position in the ring. Cornette actually landed three feet away from the man who was supposed to catch him and ended up blowing out one of his knees when it folded inwards. Cornette, who is legitimately afraid of heights, later said that he knew he might get seriously hurt when he was told he'd have to fall off a scaffold, but that performing in front of such a large audience was more important than his own health. Cornette would later recall the incident in a shoot interview.

National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling (1986–1990)

The Midnight Express with Cornette had a short say in World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas where they feuded mainly with The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers). When opportunities in WCCW looked to go nowhere the Midnight Express started to look elsewhere for employment and what they found would give the team national and international exposure.

In 1986, Cornette became the color commentator for Jim Crockett Promotions' nationally-syndicated NWA television show, and later took over the same role on the Saturday night TBS broadcasts alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Ross.

In 1989, Cornette became a member of WCW's creative team, also known as a booker. As a booker for WCW, Cornette helped write storylines and shape the format of its television shows. Due to friction and animosity between himself and WCW head Jim Herd, Cornette quit the company after Halloween Havoc 1990.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991–1995)

A firm believer in "old-school" territorial wrestling, Cornette began the Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion in 1991. SMW promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. By this point, however, the nature of wrestling in the United States had already changed irrevocably, leading Cornette to seek a working relationship with the WWF in 1993. This did not change the new national perception that regional promotions were "minor league." The move also did not help the federation's finances, and Cornette closed SMW's doors in November 1995. Cornette later said that he chose the wrong time to start a wrestling federation because the business as a whole was in a recession.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1993–2005)

Cornette went to the WWF in 1993 while still serving as promoter of SMW. As he had done in other promotions, Cornette held several positions in the WWF, including manager, color commentator and member of the booking committee. Cornette's most notable managerial role in the WWF was as the "American spokesperson" of WWF Champion Yokozuna.

Cornette joined the WWF full-time in 1996 after the demise of SMW, and had a major role in scouting and developing new talent. On screen, he led a top heel stable known as "Camp Cornette," which consisted of Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog. In 1997, Cornette became a member of the WWF announce team where he served as a color commentator. It was during this time that he also began performing a series of controversial "worked shoots" where he would praise what he felt was right and condemn what he felt was wrong in professional wrestling. Although the segments were produced by the WWF, Cornette did not hesitate to give praise to WCW wrestlers that he felt deserved it. Cornette also became active behind the scenes working on the booking committee for several years before being removed after frequently butting heads with head writer Vince Russo.

In 1998, Cornette led an NWA invasion, based on the old Crockett Promotions territory, with a stable including Jeff Jarrett, Barry Windham and The Rock 'n' Roll Express. Later that year, Cornette managed The New Midnight Express before disappearing from WWF programming. Cornette did some color commentating, then returned to WWF television for one night at the WrestleMania X-Seven pay-per-view in Houston, Texas, where he took part in the "gimmick battle royal".

Cornette later became lead booker and part owner of OVW, WWE's lead developmental territory at the time, run by "Nightmare" Danny Davis. As a talent developer, Cornette had previously been instrumental in developing current and former WWE Superstars such as Kane, D'Lo Brown, Sunny and Al Snow during his time running SMW.

In May, 2005, Cornette was suspended for several weeks after slapping OVW developmental wrestler Anthony Carelli backstage after Carelli had "no-sold" fellow wrestler The Boogeyman by laughing at him during a live OVW event. Shortly after Cornette returned from his suspension, a separate incident occurred and the WWE released him from his contract in July, 2005. In the spring of 2007, Carelli, who had since been called up to the WWE as Santino Marella, appeared on a Canadian radio program where he publicly challenged Cornette to a match despite Cornette working for rival promotion TNA at the time. Cornette bluntly responded that at this stage of his career, he didn't need to wrestle a career jobber with a drinking problem.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006–2009)

In 2006, Cornette joined TNA Wrestling as the new face of TNA Management. He holds the title of "Management Director" according to the press releases following his premiere at the Slammiversary PPV event on June 18, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. After a brief speech, he departed, but returned at the end of the show in light of the "Orlando Screwjob," taking the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt after Jeff Jarrett, Larry Zbyszko and Earl Hebner successfully executed a screwjob on Christian Cage and Sting.

Cornette is seen by some as "bringing the NWA back to TNA"; although, this has never been officially stated. During Cornette's first TNA Impact! appearance, he got into a verbal confrontation with Jeff Jarrett. Remarkable comments from Cornette included "This is the NWA!" and "This is the NWA Title!" He also referred to Jeff Jarrett's family, discussing his father and grandmother. His shouts of the NWA could have been a simple mistake on his part as a common mistake made by many people is still regarding TNA as "NWA: TNA".

As the figurehead "Management Director" of TNA, Cornette did not usually take up more than ten minutes of the show, which can be attributed to both his quick tongue and TNA's lack of desire to create another Mr. McMahon. Matt Morgan had also become Cornette's on-screen bodyguard to prevent harm to his physical being, until leaving that post to become a full time wrestler. Part of Cornette's gimmick was that when multiple situations build up at once, he often takes care of them all swiftly by getting all the TNA wrestlers to come out to the Impact! Zone for a "company meeting" to hear his decisions, or exasperatedly deals swiftly with people who barge into his office. The clear impact of this feature was made evident right from the start, as the first "company meeting" (which aired on the June 29, 2006 edition of ''TNA Impact!''), where every wrestler was asked to come out and stand at either ramp, saw Cornette clear up several issues:

Forcing The Latin American Xchange to start wrestling again under the threat of termination.

Booking Raven and Zbyszko in a hair vs. hair match against each other for Victory Road 2006.

Disbanding Team Canada as a result of their overly cheating ways (he would later offer them a match which, if they won, would allow them to stay as a unit, with the winner to get a future shot at the championship of their choice. They would lose the match).

Firing Earl Hebner for his role in the "Orlando Screwjob" at Slammiversary 2006. (Hebner had since been rehired, due to a lie detector test on Jeff Jarrett)

Booking America's Most Wanted and Gail Kim in a match against Sirelda, A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels in an intergender six-person tag team matchup with Styles and Daniels' NWA World Tag Team Championship on the line.

Booking a fatal four-way between Christian Cage, Sting, Scott Steiner, and Samoa Joe for Victory Road 2006.

Finally declaring Jeff Jarrett the official NWA World Heavyweight Champion given that Jarrett defend his title against the winner of the fatal four-way at Victory Road.

With the return of Vince Russo to TNA, Cornette's run with the company would come into question. Cornette has been one of Russo's harshest critics and has blamed him for the "disintegration of the business". He's also stated that he wished to inflict bodily harm on Russo due to his involvement in a WCW angle with Ed Ferrara in which they mocked WWE commentator and good friend Jim Ross' Bell's Palsy condition. Since then, however, he managed to come to working terms with Russo and also become more involved in TNA.

The Daily Star conducted an interview with Cornette, who had some harsh words for the WWE Chairman. "Have you seen the stock market? Vince is not a billionaire any more! He may not even be a millionaire by the time this thing's over! I will sacrifice every penny I've got and cut my neighbour's lawn to see Vince McMahon a broken man laying in the gutter!" Cornette worked in WWE for years and ran the old Ohio Valley developmental territory.

Jim Cornette was released from his TNA contract on September 15, 2009.

Jim Cornette appeared on the "Who's Slamming Who" podcast to give his side of the story regarding his departure from TNA. He said he was released because he was not 100 percent behind the creative team. He said there no severe reasons or incidents that led to his leaving the company, and noted that the news of his firing was online within two hours of TNA head of talent relations Terry Taylor informing him of the company's decision. This was also evident of fans uploading video opinions of the happening on YouTube sharing opinions and gossip of the departure of Cornette and former TNA superstar B.G James.

Cornette said the conversation with Dixie Carter, who said he would be welcomed back to the company if he could get 100 percent behind creative. He had stated that he was never informed that Ed Ferrara would be coming in, and claims he would have resigned from his position if he had known that he would be coming into the picture with the creative team. Cornette stated that he is open to returning to TNA in the future, but simply can't support the creative team of Russo and Ferrara.

Returning to Ring of Honor and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2009–present)

In 2009, Cornette signed a contract with Ring of Honor to be their Executive Producer for the Ring of Honor Wrestling show on HDNet.

Cornette could be seen in promos leading up to his in-ring debut on HDNet and Cornette stated that he was the new Executive Producer for the television show and that he would bring change and positivity to the product. Cornette made his ROH debut on the December 7th edition of Ring of Honor Wrestling and immediately made waves by putting ROH champion Austin Aries into a 4-way title match later that night and created the Pick 6 contender series.

On September 8, 2010, Ohio Valley Wrestling announced that Cornette would resume his duties as the head booker of the promotion.

Personal life

Cornette and his longtime girlfriend Stacy Goff, who portrayed independent female wrestler Synn, were married in October 2007.

In September 2009, during a podcast interview on "Who's Slamming Who?" he voiced his support for President Barack Obama's Health Care Reform plans. He also condemned what he considered "fearmongering" from the Republican party, as well as calling former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin "a useless twat". He acknowledged having voted for Obama in the 2008 election, but does not consider himself a Democrat. His political statements have led to media attention, including an appearance on internet talk show The Young Turks.

Cornette has also stated on "YouShoot" that he does not believe in a God.

In wrestling

Wrestlers managed

:*Buddy Landel :*Adrian Street :*Christopher Daniels :*Crusher Broomfield :*Jeff Jarrett :*Salvatore Sincere :*Mantaur :*Yokozuna :*The British Bulldog :*Owen Hart :*Vader :*Dan Severn :*Matt Morgan :*Ron Powers :*Mark Henry :*Dutch Mantel :*Ken Wayne :*Danny Davis :*"Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce :*"King" Carl Fergie :*Norman Fredrick Charles the III :*Hercules Hernandez :*Mr. Puerto Rico

Tag teams managed

:*The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton, Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) :*The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) :*The Fabulous Ones :*The Dynamic Dudes (Johnny and Shane) :*The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) :*The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane and Tom Prichard, Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) :*The Dynamic Duo (Al Snow and Unabomb) :*The Headhunters (Headhunter A and Headhunter B) :*The New Midnight Express (Bombastic Bob and Bodacious Bart) :*Owen Hart and Yokozuna :*Owen Hart and The British Bulldog :*Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark)

Nicknames

"The Louisville Slugger" James E. Cornette

Entrance themes

"Chase" by Giorgio Moroder

"Gavel" by Dale Oliver (TNA)

Championships and accomplishments

Cauliflower Alley Club

:*Other honoree (1997)

National Wrestling Alliance

*NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

*PWI Manager of the Year (1985, 1993, 1995)

World Wrestling Federation

*Slammy Award for Blue Light Special for Worst Dresser (1996)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*Best Booker (1993, 2001, 2003)

*Best Non-Wrestler (2006)

*Best on Interviews (1985–1988, 1993)

*Manager of the Year (1984–1990, 1992–1996)

*Best Pro Wrestling Book (2009) Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

References

''Cornette wows the audience in Charlotte''

An interview with Jim Cornette

Jim Cornette at OnlineWorldofWrestling.com

''Jim Cornette released from WWE''

External links

TNA profile

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky Category:American atheists Category:Professional wrestling announcers Category:Professional wrestling executives Category:Professional wrestling managers and valets Category:Professional wrestling trainers Category:Smoky Mountain Wrestling Category:Sportspeople from Kentucky

ar:جيم كورنيت de:James E. Cornette es:Jim Cornette fr:Jim Cornette nl:Jim Cornette ja:ジム・コルネット pt:Jim Cornette

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Brian May
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Brian Harold May
Born	July 19, 1947Hampton, London, England, UK
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer, astrophysicist, author, contributor (''The Sky at Night'')
Instrument	Guitar, vocals, piano
Genre	Rock
Years active	1965–present
Associated acts	Smile, Queen, Phenomena, G3, Queen + Paul Rodgers, Kerry Ellis
Label	Hollywood, Parlophone
Website	brianmay.com
Notable instruments	}}

Brian Harold May, CBE (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen. As a guitarist he uses his home-built guitar, "Red Special", and has composed hits such as "Tie Your Mother Down", "We Will Rock You", and "Fat Bottomed Girls".

He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for "services to the music industry". May earned a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College in 2007 and is currently the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University. May lives in Surrey.

In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked at #39 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Early life

Brian May, the only child of Harold and Ruth May, was born in Hampton, London and attended Hampton Grammar School (now Hampton School). During this time he formed his first band with vocalist and bassist Tim Staffell, named Nineteen Eighty-Four after George Orwell's novel of the same name. He left Hampton Grammar School with ten GCE Ordinary Levels and three Advanced Levels in Physics, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.

May's father Harold worked as a draughtsman at the Ministry of Aviation and had been a long-time cigarette-smoker. As a result, May dislikes smoking, even to the point where he has prohibited smoking indoors at his more recent concerts.

From 1974 to 1988, May was married to Chrissie Mullen, who is the mother of his three children: Jimmy, who was born on 15 June 1978; Louisa, who was born on 22 May 1981 and Emily Ruth, who was born on 17 February 1987. Chrissie and Brian separated in 1988.

He has stated in interviews that he suffered from depression in the late 1980s, even to the point of contemplating suicide, for reasons having to do with his troubled first marriage and his perceived failure as a husband and a dad, his father Harold's death, and Freddie Mercury's illness.

May is now married to former ''Eastenders'' actress Anita Dobson, whom he met in 1986, and who gained fame in the 1980s for providing vocals to the theme tune to the aforementioned soap, entitled "Anyone Can Fall in Love". May himself produced the song, which reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1986. According to ''The Sunday Times'' Rich List he is worth £85 million .

Career

Smile

Brian May formed the band Smile in 1968. The group included Tim Staffell as 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 Staffel left in 1970, leaving the band with a catalogue of only 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". May also performed several other songs that night.

Queen

In Queen's three-part vocal harmonies, May's was generally the lower-range backing vocal. On some of his songs he sings the lead vocal, most notably the first verse of "Who Wants to Live Forever", the bridge on "I Want It All" and "Flash's Theme", and full lead vocals on "Some Day One Day", "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)", "'39", "Good Company", "Long Away", "All Dead, All Dead", "Sleeping on the Sidewalk", "Leaving Home Ain't Easy" and "Sail Away Sweet Sister".

Throughout Queen's career May frequently wrote songs for the band and has composed many significant songs such as the worldwide hit "We Will Rock You", as well as "Tie Your Mother Down", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "I Want It All". Typically, either Freddie Mercury or May wrote the most songs on every Queen album.

After the famous Live Aid concert in summer 1985, Mercury rang his bandmates 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) and Roger Taylor on lyrics, with Freddie Mercury being more a producer and arranger than a proper co-writer, and John Deacon mostly absent.

For their 1989 release 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. Still, 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" (based on his personal problems with the British press). For the rest of the album he did not contribute so much creatively, although he helped in building the basis of "Party" and "Was It All Worth It" (both being predominantly Mercury's pieces) and created the guitar riff of "Chinese Torture".

Queen's subsequent album was ''Innuendo'', on which May's contributions increased, although more in arrangements than actual writing in most cases; for the title track he did some of the arrangement for the heavy solo, then he added vocal harmonies to "I'm Going Slightly Mad" and composed the solo of "These Are the Days of Our Lives", a song for which the four of them decided the keyboard parts together. He changed the tempo and key of Mercury's song "The Hitman" and took it under his wing, even singing guide vocal in the demo. May also co-wrote some of the guitar lines in "Bijou".

Two songs that May had composed for his first solo album, "Headlong" and "I Can't Live With You", eventually ended up in the Queen project. His other composition was "The Show Must Go On", a group effort in which he was the coordinator and primary composer, but in which they all had input, Deacon and Taylor with the famous chord sequence.

In recent years, he has overseen 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 years as "Queen", along with Free/Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers. Billed as "Queen + Paul Rodgers", the band has played throughout 2005 and 2006 in South Africa, Europe, Aruba, Japan, and North America and released a new album with Paul Rodgers in 2008, entitled ''The Cosmos Rocks''. This album was supported by a major tour.

Solo work and The Brian May Band

During 1983, several members of Queen explored side projects. On 21 and 22 April in Los Angeles, May recorded his first solo work, a mini-album entitled ''Star Fleet Project'', on which he collaborated with Eddie Van Halen.

Following the death of Freddie Mercury in November 1991, May chose to deal with his grief by committing himself as fully as possible to work, first by finishing his solo album, ''Back to the Light'', and then touring worldwide to promote it. He frequently remarked in press interviews that this was the only form of self-prescribed therapy he could think of.

In late 1992, the Brian May Band was officially formed. An early version of the band was loosely formed for 19 October 1991, when May took part in the ''Guitar Legends'' guitar festival in Seville, Spain. The line-up for his performance was May (Lead Vocals & Lead Guitar), Cozy Powell (Drums & Percussion), Mike Moran (Keyboards), Rick Wakeman (Keyboards), Maggie Ryder (Backing vocals), Miriam Stockley (Backing vocals) and Chris Thompson (Backing vocals).

The original line-up was Brian May (Lead Vocals and Lead Guitar), Cozy Powell (Drums and Percussion), Mike Caswell (Guitar), Neil Murray (Bass), Maggie Ryder (Backing vocals), Miriam Stockley (Backing vocals) and Chris Thompson (Backing vocals). This version of the band lasted only during the South American support tour (supporting The B-52's and Joe Cocker) on only five dates. In Spain, a Catalan band called Sweet Sister supported the tour.

Afterwards, May made significant changes, feeling the group never quite gelled. Most significantly, May brought guitarist Jamie Moses on board to replace Mike Caswell. May considered Moses a perfect fit to the band. The other change made was in the backing vocal department. Ryder, Stockley and Thompson were replaced with Catherine Porter and Shelley Preston. On 23 February 1993, this new line-up of The Brian May Band began its world tour in the US, both supporting Guns N' Roses and headlining a few dates. The tour would take them through North America, Europe (support act: Valentine) and Japan.

After the tour ended on 18 December 1993, May returned to the studio with fellow surviving Queen band members Roger Taylor and John Deacon to work on tracks that became ''Made in Heaven'', the final Queen studio album. The band took Mercury's solo album demos and last recordings, which he managed to perform in the studio after the album ''Innuendo'' was finished, and completed them with their additions both musically and vocally. Work on the album after Mercury's death originally began in 1992 by Deacon and May, but was left until a later date due to other commitments.

In 1995, May began working towards a new solo album of covers tentatively named ''Heroes'', in addition to working on various film and television projects and other collaborations. May subsequently changed the approach of his second album from covers to focus on those collaborations and on new material. The songs recorded for that album, ''Another World'', would feature mainly Spike Edney, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray and Jamie Moses, who had become his core support/collaborative team.

On 5 April 1998, Cozy Powell was killed in a car accident on the M4 motorway near Bristol, England. This caused a huge, unexpected disruption to the upcoming tour for The Brian May Band, with the need for a new drummer on short notice. Steve Ferrone was brought on to help May finish recording drums for the title track "Another World" and to join the band for the early stage promotional tour of five dates in Europe before the world tour.

The line up was then May (Lead Vocals & Lead Guitar), Edney (Keyboards), Murray (Bass), Moses (Guitar), Ferrone (Drums & Percussion), Susie Webb (Backing vocals) and Zoe Nicholas (Backing vocals). Following the early promo tour, Eric Singer replaced Steve Ferrone for the full 1998 world tour.

Later solo work

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, Brian May made a guest appearance at the Motörhead 25th Anniversary show at Brixton Academy along with Eddie Clarke (former Motörhead guitarist) for the encore song "Overkill". In the Queen's birthday honours list of 2005, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire "for services to the music industry". May is a friend of singer and musician Phil Collins and was a special guest at the Genesis reunion concert at Twickenham Stadium in 2007. On 17 November 2007, Brian May was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, taking over from Cherie Blair, and installed in 2008. May worked extensively with stage actress and singer Kerry Ellis after he cast her in the musical ''We Will Rock You''. He produced and arranged her debut studio album ''Anthems'' (2010), a follow-up to her extended play ''Wicked in Rock'' (2008), as well as appeared with Ellis at many public performances – playing guitar alongside her. He also contributed a guitar solo to Meat Loaf's ''Hang Cool, Teddy Bear'' album in exchange for the use of drummer John Miceli. Along with Elena Vidal, Brian May released a historical book in 2009 entitled ''A Village Lost and Found: Scenes in Our Village''. The book is an annotated collection of stereoscopic photographs taken by the Victorian era photographer T. R. Williams and it is sold with a focussing stereoscope. May became an enthusiast of stereoscope photographs as a child, and first encountered the work of Williams during the late 1960s. In 2003 May announced a search in order to identify the actual location of the ''Scenes in Our Village'' images. In 2004 May reported that he had identified the location as the village of Hinton Waldrist in Oxfordshire.

In November 2009, May appeared on the popular reality TV show ''The X Factor'' with band mate Roger Taylor as Queen mentoring the contestants, then later performing "Bohemian Rhapsody". In April 2010, May founded the "Save Me" 2010 project to work against any proposed repeal of the fox-hunting ban. In February 2011 it was announced that May will tour with Kerry Ellis, playing 12 dates across the UK in May 2011. On 18 April 2011 Lady Gaga confirmed that May would play the guitar on her track "Yoü and I" from her latest album Born This Way, released on 23 May 2011. On 26 August, May performed "We Will Rock You" and "Welcome To The Black Parade" with American rock band My Chemical Romance at the Reading Festival.

Queen + Paul Rodgers

At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers (founder and former lead singer of Free and Bad Company). Brian May's website also stated that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.

Between 2005 and 2006 Queen and Paul Rodgers embarked on a world tour, the first leg being Europe and the second, Japan and the US in 2006. On 25 May 2006, Queen received the inaugural VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and May and Taylor were joined on stage with the Foo Fighters to perform a selection of Queen songs. On 15 August 2006, May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at a "secret location". The album, titled ''The Cosmos Rocks'', was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008. Following the album the band again embarked on a tour through Europe and parts of the US, opening on Kharkov's freedom square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans. The show in Ukraine was later released on DVD.

Queen and Paul Rodgers officially split up on 12 May 2009. Rodgers does not rule out the possibility of working together again.

Highlights

Brian May began composing in 1968/1969, and through the years he has collaborated with other songwriters, including Frank Musker, with whom he wrote "Too Much Love Will Kill You", and with Elizabeth Lamers, whose music won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically & Lyrically in 1996. A meticulous arranger, he focuses on multi-part harmonies, often more contrapuntal than parallel—a rarity for rock guitar. Examples are found in Queen's albums ''A Night at the Opera'' and ''A Day at the Races'', where he arranged a jazz band for guitar mini-orchestra ("Good Company"), a vocal canon ("The Prophet's Song") and guitar and vocal counterpoints ("Teo Torriatte").

May explored a wide variety of styles in guitar, including sweep picking ("Was It All Worth It", "Chinese Torture"), tremolo ("Brighton Rock", "Stone Cold Crazy", "Death on Two Legs", "Sweet Lady", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Get Down Make Love", "Dragon Attack"), tapping ("Bijou", "It's Late", "Resurrection", "Cyborg", "Rain Must Fall", "Business", "China Belle", "I Was Born To Love You"), slide guitar ("Drowse", "Tie Your Mother Down", "Radio Ga Ga"), Hendrix sounding licks ("Liar", "Brighton Rock"), tape-delay ("Brighton Rock", "White Man") and melodic parts ("Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "These Are the Days of Our Lives"). Some of his solos and orchestral parts were composed by Freddie Mercury, who then asked May to bring them to life ("Bicycle Race", "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon", "Killer Queen", "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy"). May also performed notable acoustic works, including the acoustic guitar live version of "Love of My Life" from 1975's ''A Night at the Opera'', the finger-picked solo of "White Queen" and the skiffle-influenced "'39".

In January 2007, the readers of ''Guitar World'' voted May's guitar solos "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Brighton Rock" into the top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time ("Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted #20 and "Brighton Rock" was voted #41).

Aided by the uniqueness of his guitar—the Red Special—May was often able to create strange and unusual sound effects. For example, he was able to imitate an orchestra in the song "Procession"; in "Get Down, Make Love" he was able to create sound effects with his guitar that were so unusual that many thought a synthesiser was being used; in "Good Company" he used his guitar to mimic a trombone, a piccolo and several other instruments for the song's Dixieland jazz band feel. Queen used a "No synthesizers were used on this album" sleeve note on their early albums to make this clear to the listeners.

Other instruments

The first instrument Brian May learned to play was the banjolele, which he then played on Queen's song "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" (live and in the studio). For "Good Company", he used a regular baritone ukelele which he had bought in Hawaii on a holiday. Occasionally, May would also record on other string instruments such as harp (one chord per take, then copied and pasted by the engineer to make it sound like a continuous performance) and bass (on some demos and many songs in his solo career, and the Queen + Paul Rodgers album).

As a child, he was also trained on classical piano. Although Freddie Mercury was the band's main pianist, Brian would occasionally step in (once per album, on average). From 1979 onwards, he also played synthesisers, organ ("Wedding March") and programmed drum-machines for both Queen and outside projects (such as producing other artists and his own solo records).

May is also an accomplished singer. From Queen's ''Queen II'' to ''The Game'', May contributed lead vocals to at least one song per album.

May co-composed a mini-opera with Lee Holdridge, ''Il Colosso'', for Steve Barron's 1996 film, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio''. May performed the opera with Jerry Hadley, Sissel Kyrkjebo, and Just William. On-screen, it was performed entirely by puppets.

Musician

Brian May has been referred to as a virtuoso guitarist by many publications and musicians. Former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar stated, "I thought Queen were really innovative and made some great sounding records.. I like the rockin' stuff. I think Brian May has one of the great guitar tones on the planet, and I really, really love his guitar work." May has used a range of guitars, most often the "Red Special", which he designed when he was only 16 years old. It was built with wood from an 18th century fireplace. His comments on this instrument, from ''Queen In Their Own Words'' (ed. Mick St. Michael, Omnibus Press, 1992, p. 62) are:

In addition to using his home-made guitar he prefers to use coins (especially a sixpence from the farewell proof set of 1970), instead of a more traditional plastic plectrum, on the basis that their rigidity gives him more control in playing. He is known to carry coins in his pockets specifically for this purpose.

May's early heroes were Cliff Richard and The Shadows, who he says were "the most metallic thing out at the time." Many years later he gained his opportunity to play on separate occasions with both Cliff Richard and Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin. He has collaborated with Cliff Richard on a re-recording of the Cliff Richard and The Shadows (then known as The Drifters) 1958 hit "Move It" on the Cliff Richard duets album ''Two's Company'' which was released on 6 November 2006. On Queen For An Hour 1989 Interview on BBC Radio 1 May listed Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton as his guitar heroes. In a 1991 interview for ''Guitar World magazine'', May referred to The Who as "my inspiration", and on seeing Led Zeppelin stated, "We used to look at those guys and think, "That's the way it should be done."

During the time in which Brian May and his father were building the Red Special, May also produced plans to build a second guitar. However, so successful was the Red Special, that May simply had no need to build another guitar. These plans were eventually given to guitar luthier Andrew Guyton in around 2004/05, some slight modifications were made and the guitar was built. It was named "The Spade", as the shape of the body resembled the form shown on playing cards. However the guitar also came to be known as "The Guitar That Time Forgot". As yet, this guitar has not been used in any recordings and remains in May's possession.

Equipment

Most of May's electric guitar work live and in the studio was done on the Red Special, which he built with his father during his teenage years. From 1975 onwards, he's also had some replicas made, some of which were also used for live and recording purposes, others were mainly spares. The most famous replicas were made by John Birch (in 1975—May actually smashed it during a concert in the States in 1982), Greco BM90 (featured in the promo video of "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" in 1977), Guild (back-up from 1984 to 1993) and Fryers (1997–1998, used both live and in the studio). On stage, Brian used to carry at least one back-up guitar (in case he broke a string) and occasionally would use others for certain songs or parts. Currently, May has his own company which makes guitars whose design is modelled after the original Red Special guitar.

July 1973 – May 1974: Fender Stratocaster Pre-CBS

October 1974 – May 1975: Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, and the Stratocaster from the previous tour.

November 1975 – May 1976: Same two guitars as before, plus a natural finish John Birch replica of the Red Special.

September 1976: Same three as before, plus a Martin D-18 acoustic for "'39".

January 1977 – August 1979: Just the Birch replica plus an Ovation Pacemaker 12-string acoustic on some numbers ("'39", "Love of My Life", "Dreamer's Ball").

November 1979 – June 1982: Birch replica (back-up), Fender Telecaster ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love" 2nd verse, middle-eight and solo), Ovation (acoustic numbers).

July – November 1982: Added a Gibson Flying V as second back-up. On 9 August 1982 Brian smashed the Birch guitar, so the Flying V became the only spare.

August to October 1984: The Flying V became a second back-up again as his main spare was the Guild replica. He also used Roger Taylor's Gibson Chet-Atkins Classical Electric.

July 1985 – August 1986: Gibson Flying V no longer used. The rest remained the same.

Some of the non-RS electric guitars he used in the studio included:

Burns Double Six on "Long Away" (1976) and "Under Pressure" (1981).

Fender Broadcaster on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (1979). It was used for the video (but not the recordings) of "Back Chat" (1982).

Gibson Firebird on "Hammer to Fall" and "Tear It Up" (album versions only, not on stage).

Ibanez JS on "Nothing But Blue" (1991).

Parker Fly on "Mother Love" (1993–1995).

For acoustic, he favoured Ovation, Martin, Tōkai Hummingbird, Godin and Guild. On a couple of videos he also used some different electric guitars: a Stratocaster copy on "Play the Game" (1980) and a Washburn RR2V on "Princes of the Universe" (1986).

In 1984 Guild released the first official Red Special replica for mass production, and made some prototypes specifically for May. However the solid body construction (the original RS has hollow cavities in the body) and the pick-ups (DiMarzio) that were not an exact replica of the Burns TriSonic did not make May happy, so the production stopped after just 300 guitars. In 1993 Guild made a second replica of the RS, made in just 1000 copies, of which May has some and used as a backup. At the moment, he uses the two guitars made by Greg Fryer—the luthier who restored the Old Lady in 1998—as backup. They are almost identical to the original, except for the Fryer logo on the headstock (May's original one has a sixpence).

In the studio, May used Yamaha DX7 synths for the opening sequence of "One Vision" and the backgrounds of "Who Wants to Live Forever" (also on stage), "Scandal" and "The Show Must Go On". He mostly used Freddie Mercury's 1972 Steinway piano and reportedly now owns the instrument in question.

May was keen on using some toys as instruments as well. He used a Yamaha plastic piano in "Teo Torriatte", a "genuine George Formby Ukulele-Banjo" in "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" and in "Good Company", and a toy mini koto in "The Prophet's Song".

May has used Vox AC30 amplifiers almost exclusively since a meeting with his long time hero Rory Gallagher at a gig in London during the late '60s/early '70s. His choice is the model AC30TBX, the top-boost version with Blue Alnico speakers, and he runs the amp at full volume on the Normal channel. He also customises his amps by removing the circuitry for the Brilliant and Vib-trem channels (leaving only the circuitry for the Normal), and this alters the tone slightly, with a gain addition of 6–7 dB. He always used a treble booster built by Queen's former bass guitarist (John Deacon) which, along with the AC30, went a long way in helping to create many of his signature guitar tones. He used the Dallas Rangemaster for the first Queen albums, up to A Day at the Races. Effects guru Pete Cornish built for him the TB-83 (32 dB of gain) that was used for all the remaining Queen albums. He switched in 2000 to the Fryer's booster, which actually gives less boost than the TB-83.

Live, he uses banks of Vox AC30 amplifiers keeping some amps with only guitar and others with all effects such as delay, flanger and chorus. He has a rack of 14 AC30s, which are grouped as Normal, Chorus, Delay 1, Delay 2. On his pedal board, May has a custom switch unit made by Cornish and subsequently modified by Fryer that allows him to choose which amps are active. He uses a BOSS pedal from the '70s, the Chorus Ensemble CE-1, which can be heard in In The Lap of The Gods (Live at Wembley '86) or Hammer to Fall (slow version played live with P. Rodgers). Next in the chain, he uses a Foxx Foot Phaser (We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Keep Yourself Alive, etc.), and two delay machines to play his trademark solo in Brighton Rock.

May's lead vocals in Queen

"Keep Yourself Alive" – Vocal bridge with Taylor, rest sung by Mercury (1973)

"Some Day, One Day" (1974)

"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)" (1974)

"'39" (1975)

"Good Company" (1975)

"Long Away" (1976)

"All Dead, All Dead" (1977)

"Sleeping on the Sidewalk" (1977)

"Fat Bottomed Girls" – Chorus lead vocals (1978)

"Leaving Home Ain't Easy" (1978)

"Sail Away Sweet Sister" – Mercury sings the bridge (1980)

"Flash" – with Freddie Mercury (1980)

''Put Out the Fire" - lead on falsetto lines.

"Las Palabras de Amor" – Lead harmony vocals on chorus (1982)

"I Go Crazy" – Lead Bridge Vocals (1984)

"Who Wants to Live Forever" – Intro verse, harmony and other lines throughout (1986)

"I Want It All" – with Mercury (1989)

"Lost Opportunity" (1991)

"Mother Love" – Lead vocals on final verse (1995)

"Let Me Live" – Lead vocals on third verse (1995)

"No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" – with Taylor (1997)

Astrophysics

May studied physics and mathematics at Imperial College London, graduating with a BSc (Hons) degree and ARCS in physics with Upper Second-Class Honours. He then proceeded to study for a PhD degree, also at the Imperial College London departments of Physics and Mathematics, and was part way through this PhD programme, studying reflected light from interplanetary dust and the velocity of dust in the plane of the Solar System. When Queen became successful he abandoned his physics doctorate but did co-author two scientific research papers: ''MgI Emission in the Night-Sky Spectrum'' (1972) and ''An Investigation of the Motion of Zodiacal Dust Particles (Part I)'' (1973), which were based on his observations at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife. He is the co-author of ''Bang! – The Complete History of the Universe'' with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott, which was published in October 2006. In October 2007, more than 30 years after he started his research, he completed his PhD thesis in astrophysics, entitled ''A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud'', passed his ''viva voce'', and performed the required corrections. He officially graduated at the postgraduate awards ceremony held in the Royal Albert Hall, on the afternoon of Wednesday 14 May 2008.

On 17 November 2007, May was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, taking over from Cherie Blair, and installed in 2008.

Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was named in his honour on 18 June 2008 on the suggestion of Sir Patrick Moore (probably influenced by the asteroid's provisional designation of ).

May appeared on the 700th episode of The Sky at Night hosted by Patrick Moore, along with Dr. Chris Lintott, Jon Culshaw, Prof. Brian Cox and the Astronomer Royal Martin Rees who on leaving the panel told Brian May, who was joining it, "I don't know any scientist who looks as much as like Isaac Newton as you do". May replied that "that could be my after dinner comment, thank you very much".

Activist

Brian May has formed a group to promote decent treatment for animals. Though a Conservative Party voter most of his life, he has stated that their policy on fox hunting and the culling of badgers turned him off voting for them. His group, Save Me, is a campaign group for the protection of all animals against unnecessary, cruel and degrading treatment; with a particular emphasis on preventing hunting of foxes and the culling of badgers.

The group's primary concern is to ensure that the Hunting Act 2004 and other laws protecting animals are kept in place.

In a September 2010 interview with Stephen Sackur for the BBC’s HARDtalk program, May said that he would rather be remembered for his animal rights work, than for his music or science.

Stereophotography

May has had a lifelong interest in collecting Victorian stereophotography. In 2009, with co-author Elena Vidal, he published his second book, ''A Village Lost and Found,'' on the work of English stereophotography innovator TR Williams.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

! Year	! Title	! UK	! US
1983	''Star Fleet Project''	35	125
1992	''Back to the Light''	6	159
1998		23	–
2000		–	–

Live albums

! Year	! Title	! UK	! US
1993		20	–

Bibliography

References

External links

Brian May's official homepage

Brian May World

Brian Interviews

Queenpedia – Brian May Complete Song List

Scientific paper with Brian May as co-author

Brian May's astronomy book

Five interview clips with Brian May

Brian May's Ph.D thesis

Brian May interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, 3 August 2010

''Brian May: the interview'', by Rachel Cooke, The Observer, Sunday 5 September 2010

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English male singers Category:English rock guitarists Category:English heavy metal guitarists Category:English tenors Category:English pianists Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:Old Hamptonians Category:Musicians from London Category:Queen (band) members Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Alumni of Imperial College London Category:People associated with Imperial College London Category:Hollywood Records artists Category:People from Hampton, London Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:English vegetarians Category:English astronomers Category:English agnostics Category:People associated with Liverpool John Moores University Category:Lead guitarists Category:Backing vocalists

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