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ROCK guitarist and founder member of Queen, Brian May, has released a song in Spanish with a video shot entirely on location in his old haunts in the Canary Islands as a tribute to a region he knows and loves very well.
May, 74, originally from Richmond-upon-Thames, UK, holds a PhD in Astrophysics, which he researched mostly at the observatory in the Teide National Park – an active volcano and key visitor site in Tenerife – and footage from here is used in the video, together with scenes near an ancient laurel tree on the island of El Hierro.
The tree features on the cover of his latest album, Another World, and the title track has now been released in Spanish as Otro Lugar ('Another Place').
Some features were filmed on the island of La Palma, where Dr May has, in previous years, attended the prestigious Starmus Festival, which brings together some of the best brains on the planet in the arts and sciences – one of its regulars having been the late Stephen Hawking.
According to the world-acclaimed guitarist, the Spanish-language version and its video filmed in the Canary Islands is 'a special gift for the people of Spain' who have always been 'incredibly friendly and kind' to him and to Queen.
“It's been a dream for me, going back to visit the places which breathed life into me and also into this album,” May said.
He made particular reference to the pine forest surrounding the Teide volcano, describing it as a 'very special place' to him and announcing that 'this is the place' he wanted to be 'when he left this planet'.
“For me, it's the closest place to heaven,” the rocker admitted.
The artist behind iconic tracks such as We Will Rock You, I Want It All, The Show Must Go On and the tragic, final release of Freddie Mercury, Too Much Love Will Kill You, recently presented a remix of his 1998 solo album, Gold Series, at Greenwich Royal Observatory in London, showcasing several brand-new videos.
As well as Otro Lugar, these included On My Way Up and the Buddy Holly cover Maybe Baby.
Brian explained to his English-speaking fans that the Spanish version of Another World was almost an exact translation of the original, but that, as the latter is a more 'wordy' language, the song ended up being longer, by default.
This meant he and his crew were able to include much more footage in the video, which has 'come out better than the English version' as a result.
He says the song describes a 'parallel universe' and 'what might have happened in another world'.
The centuries-old laurel tree in El Hierro is a 'huge symbol' of Another World, due to its 'extraordinary shape' acquired through having to grow in extremely harsh conditions – against constant and very strong gusts of wind – meaning 'it has only managed to survive by bending double', May explained to fans.
He likens the shape of the tree to 'a beautiful woman with her head thrown back in the wind'.
“I had an amazing trip to these three islands for the making of the video,” the musician admitted.
“The gods were on our side.
“I don't know if someone was looking out for us, because everywhere we went we had perfect weather for the takes, so the video should be spectacular.”
Doctoral student in the Canaries in the '70s
After finishing his BSc undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy at Imperial College London in 1968, Brian May began researching for his PhD thesis, titled An Investigation of Motion of Zodiacal Dust Particles, which took him to the Teide Observatory and to the Canarian Astrophysics Institute (IAC), based at La Laguna University.
He was there throughout 1971 and 1972, and his observations in Tenerife formed the basis of his doctoral thesis as well as two published articles, one in Nature magazine in December 1972 and another in the monthly journal for the UK's Royal Astronomical Society, in 1975.
But with Queen's massive global success, May had to shelve his work, since it was impossible to find time to dovetail both.
By then, he was married to Chrissie Mullen, with whom he had his son and two daughters; they divorced in 1988, and Brian has since been with British actress Anita Dobson – who played Angie Watts in the London-based soap opera Eastenders, famously running the Queen Vic pub with husband 'Dirty Den'.
They married in 2000, and seven years later, Brian finally finished his PhD thesis.
He received his doctorate in May 2008, at a graduation ceremony in London's Royal Albert Hall, 37 years after starting it, and just two months before his 61st birthday – a clear and high-profile example of tenacity, dedication, never giving up, and how it is never too late to achieve one's ambitions or conclude unfinished business.
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