The Queen guitarist writes 'New Horizons', which will be released on New Year's Day at NASA control headquarters in Maryland, in celebration of the space program agency's mission.
- Dec 20, 2018
AceShowbiz - Queen guitarist Brian May is releasing his first solo single in 20 years in honour of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission.
"New Horizons" was written by May as a tribute to NASA New Horizons mission, which will achieve the most distant spacecraft flyby in history on New Year's Day, and will be released on 1 January at NASA control headquarters in Maryland.
May, who has a doctorate in astrophysics, is a New Horizons science collaborator and will be on hand to witness the historic event.
"This project has energized me in a new way," he says. "For me, it's been an exciting challenge to bring two sides of my life together - astronomy and music...
"I was inspired by the idea that this is the furthest that the hand of man has ever reached," he continues. "It will be by far the most distant object we have ever seen at close quarters, through the images which the space craft will beam back to earth. To me, it epitomizes the human spirit's unceasing desire to understand the universe we inhabit. Everyone who has devoted so much energy to this mission since its launch in January 2006 will be feeling they are actually inside that small but intrepid vehicle - only about the size of a grand piano - as it pulls off another spectacular close encounter...".
The rocker's distinguished career is the subject of the recent hit film "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stars Rami Malek as Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury while British actor Gwilym Lee portrays May. The production currently holds the record for the highest grossing biopic at the box office in both the U.S. and globally.
