Queen, another legendary band with unforgettable music! How I love to sing out loud to Somebody to Love and Bohemian Rhapsody when I’m driving my car 😉 Yep, guilty, that’s what I do, I can’t stay silent when I am listening to good music 🙂 Such great songs, and there are so many more.
Did you know that Brian May is vegan? He has been vegan since the beginning of 2020 and he says that, although he hasn’t been preachy about it, he thinks it is time to re-examine our world in a way that doesn’t abuse other species.
“I took up the Vegan Challenge in January“(also known as Veganuary) “and I’ve been three months a vegan now. To me it was an experiment, because for a long time I’d been an animal campaigner but grappled with the fact that I was still eating them occasionally.” (source: nme.com)
Use the code veganuary to claim your discount.
Eating Animals has Brought us to our Knees
“To go vegan was just a decision,” he said, “but now we’ve seen more of the effects of how eating animals has brought us to our knees as a species. I think it’s time to re-examine our world in a way that doesn’t abuse other species.”
He is now planning to be “a bit more preachy about veganism because to me it is the way forward”.
The Global Pandemic and Eating Meat
May has been quite vocal about covid-19 and its origins in the wet meat markets. “This pandemic seemed to come from people eating animals and it’s becoming more well-known that eating animals is not the greatest thing for our health …” (source: The Guardian)
Paul McCartney has also called for an abolition of wet markets in China, describing them as “medieval”.
“It seems like Sars, avian flu, all sorts of other stuff that has afflicted us has come from the markets … and what’s it for? For these quite medieval practices. They need to clean up their act.”
Brian May believes that humanity will learn some great lessons from this pandemic.
“It’s a very hard time for everyone. This is a tragedy. But there are things to be grateful for.”
A Message of Hope
He added: “When we come out of this, I think there will be some great lessons we have learned. I hope we remember the lessons that we’ve learned — that we can work from home, the cars can stop, the planes can stop, the air can get clear. I mean, suddenly we can all breathe again. That’s gonna save countless lives. There’s no animals being knocked down on the roads anymore, and our wildlife rescue is experiencing a tremendous difference.
“All these things which we think are part of our society and can’t be got rid of, all the evils that humanity has brought to the world, they’re not inevitable. Maybe we can change. Maybe we need a new direction.” (source: nme.com)
Vegan Activism
In November 2020, he launched a range of vegan-friendly merchandise, such as lounge pants, scarves, and cool looking wallets that are embellished with a guitar logo. The material for these products is 100% vegan-friendly cotton, and the wallet is made of PU leather, i.e. polyurethane leather which is usually used for furniture or shoes.
The vegan wallet also features May’s signature on the back.
In April 2020, the famous guitarist called on people to go vegan, re-examining our relationship with eating animals amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Save Me Charity
In 2010, Brian May founded the charity “Save Me”, an anti-cruelty charity that campaigns for the protection of all animals against unnecessary, cruel, and degrading treatment. It especially focuses on the fox hunts and badger cullings.
May – who is a very active campaigner – says that he would rather be remembered for his work for animals instead of his music or astronomy (he is also an astrophysicist). (source: rspca.org.uk)
Final Thoughts
The list of artists who use their fame is long, and the impact they are having on their followers is tremendous. When you’re in the spotlight, you can choose to either be a bad example for your fans (the damning or embarrassing proof being shown in newspapers and social media) or a good example.
Fun fact! Did you know that in 2014 I sent Brian May a direct message on Twitter? I knew he was an animal campaigner, and at that time I was fighting our local mayor to close down a decrepit zoo.
Since a lot of corruption and politics was involved, bringing that campaign to a successful end involved overcoming enormous obstacles. One of my solutions was to bring it into the spotlight and I started contacting local artists who seemed active for animal rights, but I received no reply.
Then I contacted international artists who were known to stand up for animals, but again, that was useless. Brian May was one of them (and I think, Paul McCartney as well).
It is possible that these people never knew of my plea for help. Maybe their assistants deleted my messages. Who knew? Being so famous, they likely get thousands of mails per day, but well, I thought I’d give it a shot.
Anyway, the zoo got closed down. Even if I did not get famous artists to help me, I still made my campaign national and international news by contacting newspapers, blogging; and my publisher in London also agreed to run an article about my campaign on their website.
On another note, if you’d like to try out Veganuary like Brian May did last year, Nutriciously are having a 30% discount right now, valid until 10 January. You can still get it here. Use the code veganuary to claim your discount 🙂
My first car was a 1969 Chevy Impala with an 8-track player and I had two 8-track tapes one of which was Queen’s Greatest Hits. I played the heck out of that thing. I have a niece who is vegan and she’s always reading and learning about new ways to eat vegan and get the proper nutrition. I know beans play a big part in her diet. Do you have a favorite bean you use in your vegan recipes?
Hi William,
I cook a lot with lentils and I also like black beans. They are great for stews, burritos, and more 🙂
Thank you for your comment!
We are not going vegan, but some of the foods do really taste great with intense flavors with brian going vegan do you think that saving animals will populate the planet more. Eating animals is is bad for our internal systems, we did not know this at all but will keep that in mind.
Cheers,
Mathew&Deloris
Do you mean populate the planet more with animals or people? If you mean farm animals, then the answer is no, because farm animals are only massively raised for slaughter in order to produce all the meat products people crave. That is the only reason for their existence … If there is no demand for these “products”, the slaughter will decrease and the breeding of these animals will also decrease, so there would not be a higher population of animals.
Too bad you’re not going vegan … it sounds so final … The food is really great and there are many other benefits too for you, the environment, and the animals.
My elder sister and my brother-in- law also became Vegan last year. He is a guitarist too!
I’ll have to ask him if he knew Brian had taken up the challenge
Thanks for the story Christine ❤❤❤
Hi Bevan!
That’s wonderful that your sister and brother-in-law also became vegan 🙂
I’m happy you enjoyed the story 🙂
Thank you for your comment!
I think it was the recent movie about Freddy Mercury that got me to appreciate Queen and their music. I thought the scenes where they were creating those famous pieces were really fantastic. It was my younger sister who was an active fan and hung out at their gigs got to know them a bit. Yes, this is going back many years. All power to Brian I have to say embracing Veganuary. I have been mostly vegetarian for more than 40 years now. I think I would miss cheese and eggs though. Best regards, Andy
Hi Andy,
40 years is a long time! Congratulations!
Yes, Queen’s music is unforgettable. I love their music, but I haven’t seen the film yet. I am going to have to watch it 🙂
First, congratulations of your successfully getting the zoo closed! That’s quite an achievement and you are rightfully proud of it. Chapeau to you 🙂
I so wish Brian May is right and we learn from the pandemic. But I have a hard head in it (I know – steenkoolengels – but I liked the expression. 😉
I was stupid enough to get myself lured into a discussion last weekend about human behavior and the virus. Pfff. On FB, which is not the best place for discussions to begin with. My impression is people want to get back to ‘normal’ as soon as possible. At times I don’t want to know anymore what that normal is.
Confession: I am not a fan of Queen. Are you mad now?
Hahaha, Hannie! How could I be mad 🙂 We can’t all like the same music 😉 I’m still glad you stopped by today 🙂
I avoid those online discussions, they usually do not end well, and when you’re typing your replies they are so easily misinterpreted, which leads to even more anger or conflict … I prefer to stay out of it.
I hear the same thing, everyone wanting to go back to “normal”, but it was the old normal that got us into this pandemic in the first place, so something has to change, right? The new normal will not be like the old normal, at least, that’s what I think.
Closing the zoo was a big achievement, and I am proud of it. After I achieved it, the local wildlife agency (who during my 1 1/2 year campaign did nothing to help me) took all the credit for it and then everyone was quiet about what I had done. A few individuals and some friends approached me to congratulate me. Although I didn’t do my campaign for the recognition but only for the animals, the reaction (or better said, lack thereof, and the silence) of people after the effort hurt a little, but well, the animals know what I did for them and that’s what matters 🙂
Your description of Brian May seems to be thorough on his new lifestyle of being vegan. He may have changed his lifestyle to be vegan and is now an advocate of veganism but I wonder if some of this has to do with the added publicity that this lifestyle change has had. He would not be the first A lister to have a lifestyle change for the sake of some added money to their account.
I am not offended by someone being a vegan. I just wonder if it necessary to try to make others feel guilty about not choosing that lifestyle. We should allow others to lead their life peacefully without berating them on their choices.
Jerry
Hi Jerry,
I am not sure how this article or Brian May’s opinions have made you feel like we are “berating you” on your choices. I am glad our being vegan does not offend you, and I will continue sharing information about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle, share vegan recipes, and news about vegan celebrities, and vegan tips. If this makes you feel guilty, then maybe this guilt is something that you feel but is not necessarily something I or other vegans are making you feel? I am a little confused by that remark.
I agree that we should allow others to live their lives peacefully, but some food choices do not include peaceful choices, and many people do not like vegans to point that out.
Hi Christine,
COVID-19 indeed made people re-think our lifestyles, I included. I felt so much better when we finally can have fresh air for some regions that used to be highly polluted. Animals won’t be knocked down on the roads. Those are good news for 2020.
Brain May’s “Save Me” and his thoughts that he likes to be remembered for his works for animals rather than his music, which is a noble mind. I think people will get inspired by his fights for animals and follow him to do more for animals.
Thanks for sharing today.
Matt
Hi Matt,
I live near the ocean and throughout the year there is a lot of fishing going on (for big fish such as marlin, tuna, sailfish …) and since the covid lockdown began, sea life has finally been allowed to breathe. Every time I drive by the sea and I see it devoid of fishing boats I let go of a breath of relief, the ocean looks so beautiful and it is at last recuperating. Nowadays we see a bit more boats on the sea, but not as many as there used to be. Wildlife is definitely being given a chance to breathe.