Brian May: Humans Need ‘Major Change of Philosophy’ About Earth

Brian May doubled down on his previous claims that humans need to "sort out how we behave on our own planet before we venture out into space."

The Queen guitarist and astrophysicist reaffirmed and added context to his previous remarks in a new interview with Sky News, where he also discussed his contributions to the new book Bennu: 3-D Anatomy of an Asteroid, written by Dante Lauretta, principal investigator on NASA's asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx mission. "Well, I think it's now pretty apparent that we are having an effect on the Earth, which is deleterious, and we need to stop doing what we're doing," May said when asked how he feels about climate change and July 2023's record-breaking global temperatures.

"It's not just about climate change," he continued. "It's about the way we're polluting the Earth and covering it in concrete and, basically, pretty much eliminating all species except the ones that we think are useful to us. So I think we need a major, major change of philosophy in the way we treat the other creatures with which we share this planet."

You can watch the interview below.

May previously shared his "space dream" —  to "take this decency into space and procreate responsibly the spirit of the best of human nature" — in a 2019 video for the European Space Agency. "I did say this at one of the Starmus conventions, and I said it in front of a number of men who had walked upon the moon, feeling very nervous," he told Sky News. "But they all came up afterwards and said, 'You were right to say that, Brian. We have to behave better on our own planet before we go out putting our imprint on the rest of the cosmos.'"

When asked if he would like to participate in space travel himself, May laughed and said, "I think I'm a little old, a little long in the tooth now. I'm not sure if my body would withstand it. Obviously, I'd love to. I'd love to sit in the International Space Station for a little while and just watch the Earth roll around underneath me. I don't fancy going up and going down quick on Richard Branson's [Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflight company] though. I'm a person who likes to sit and contemplate. So put me somewhere where I can get outside the Earth and look at it, I think I would love that."

In other musical and astrological news, May recently released a 40th-anniversary deluxe box set of Star Fleet Project, his star-studded mini-album featuring Eddie Van Halen. "I was just filled with joy listening to him," he recently told UCR. "Of course, I could never play like that. There's no way on Earth. If I studied guitar for a hundred years, I'd never be able to play like Edward played."