Queen’s May nears doctorate

Brian May is completing his doctorate in astrophysics, more than 30 years after he abandoned his studies to form the rock group Queen.

The 60-year-old guitarist and songwriter said he plans to submit his thesis, “Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud,” to supervisors at Imperial College London within the next two weeks.

May was an astrophysics student at Imperial College when Queen, which included Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, was formed in 1970. He dropped his doctorate as the glam rock band became successful. Queen was one of Britain’s biggest music groups in the 1970s, with hits including “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You.”

After Mercury’s death in 1991, May recorded several solo albums. But he told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he had always wanted to complete his degree. “It was unfinished business,” May said. “I didn’t want an honorary Ph.D. I wanted the real thing that I worked for.”