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Brian May Gets Emotional After Virtual Performance with Freddie Mercury

Brian May wiped away a tear after a virtual performance with Freddie Mercury during Queen + Adam Lambert’s recent show at London’s O2 Arena. TikTok user @impsk77 captured and shared…

Brian May and Freddie Mercury
Cole Bennetts, Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Brian May wiped away a tear after a virtual performance with Freddie Mercury during Queen + Adam Lambert's recent show at London's O2 Arena.

TikTok user @impsk77 captured and shared the moment and captioned the clip with, "Brian singing 'Love of My Life' with Freddie and shedding a tear at the end damn near ruined me!"

Per Classic Rock, the virtual duet between Mercury and May has been part of the setlist on every stop of the Rhapsody Tour. The outlet noted, "The illusion of Freddie Mercury was constructed using archive footage of the singer performing the song during the band's Wembley concert on July 12, 1986."

Plenty of rock stars have honorary college degrees, but how many actually earned their degrees? More than you think and in some surprising fields!

One of those rock stars is Queen guitarist Brian May, who celebrates a birthday today (July 19) and is among the few doctorate recipients in the gallery. Scroll through to see who else pursued higher education!

Queen

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Each member of Queen has their own college degree. Brian May earned his PhD in astrophysics in 2007. Freddie Mercury had a degree in graphic art and design. John Deacon has a degree in Electronics, and Roger Taylor has a bachelor's degree in biology.


Dexter Holland

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The Offspring frontman earned a Ph.D in molecular biology from the University of Southern California in 2017. His thesis was titled 'Discovery of Mature MicroRNA Sequences within the Protein-Coding Regions of Global HIV-1 Genomes: Predictions of Novel Mechanisms for Viral Infection and Pathogenicity.'


Rivers Cuomo

GettyImages-1138455144.jpgKevin Winter/Getty Images

Cuomo took a little over two decades between the various album and tour cycles with Weezer to earn his English degree from Harvard, but he finally did it in 2006.


Tom Morello

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Tom Morello graduated from Harvard University in 1986 with a Bachelor's Degree in social studies.


Greg Graffin

GettyImages-1070327560.jpgKevin Winter/Getty Images

The Bad Religion frontman has an impressive academic record. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCLA. From there, he earned a PhD in science from Cornell University. Graffin has even returned to UCLA and Cornell to teach select science courses.


James Williamson

GettyImages-97744932.jpgStephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Williamson carved out an incredible post-Stooges career. He received a degree in electrical engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1982 and would go on to become a VP at Sony and help develop the technology behind the Blu-ray Disc.


Jim Morrison

GettyImages-3350502-1.jpgCentral Press/Getty Images

Before helping form The Doors, Jim Morrison would graduate from UCLA in 1965 with a Bachelor's degree from the university's film school.


Jeff Schroeder

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The Smashing Pumpkins guitarist has a bachelor's and Masters degree and is currently working on his Ph.D in Comparative Literature at UCLA.


Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison

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Sterling Morrison earned a PhD in medieval literature in 1986 from the University of Texas at Austin. Lou Reed, meanwhile, earned a Bachelor's degree from Syracuse University in English in 1964.

Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights