CNN
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Queen guitarist Brian May has been knighted in honor of his services to music and charity.
May, 75, was one of more than 1,000 people honored on King Charles III’s first honors list since the monarch took the throne. The year-end list also includes fashion designer Mary Quant and Ghanaian-British artist John Akomfrah.
The 2023 winners were published on Friday in The Gazette, the official newspaper published by the British royal family.
May was awarded the title of Knight Bachelor for his “services to music and charity”. The notice described him as a “musician, songwriter and animal welfare advocate”.
“Thank you very much for all your congratulatory messages following the announcement of my knighthood,” the guitarist said in a video posted to Instagram on Friday. “I am very happy and very touched by the love that comes from you and the support. I will do my best to be worthy.
In addition to performing with Queen since the 1970s, May is also an astrophysicist. He received his doctorate in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007 after interrupting his studies in the 1970s to focus on Queen.
May is also a strong supporter of animal rights and a critic of hunting. He formed an organization called Save Me in 2010 to campaign against fox hunting and badger culling in the UK.
May isn’t the only Queen member to receive a royal title. Drummer Roger Taylor was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2020. May was previously awarded the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2005.
May performed a famous rendition of “God Save the Queen” from the roof of Buckingham Palace during Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
Twenty years later, he also performed with Queen for the Monarch’s Platinum Jubilee Concert.
