QUEEN's BRIAN MAY Joins THE OFFSPRING For Performance At 'Starmus VII' Festival

QUEEN guitarist Brian May joined forces with THE OFFSPRING for a one-night-only performance at the Starmus VII festival in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The unique collaboration was held on Day 3 (May 15) of Starmus VII at the Tipos Arena as part of the "Sonic Universe" concert following the Stephen Hawking Medal Ceremony.

Confirming itself once again as the world's most ambitious science and music festival, Starmus, in partnership with ESET, brought the most inspiring debate on the future of the planet to Bratislava turning the Slovak capital into the world's science capital for a whole week.

The multi-day event brought a spectacular opening concert, four days of exclusive lectures; its exclusive musical program with the Starmus signature night events "Sonic Universe" concert and the popular Star Party; the open campus Starmus Camp, with which science took to the streets of the city, and its prestigious award, the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication.

The prestigious Starmus festival kicked off with a spectacular performance, followed by a four-day program of the unique Starmus exclusive talks with more than 50 world-class speakers and world-renowned artists in the popular Ice Hockey Stadium, Ondrej Nepela Arena.

This was the first edition of Starmus which focused on Planet Earth, as the most amazing planet in the universe. As in previous editions, the festival brought together a large cast of Nobel Prize winners and world icons such as Dr Jane Goodall DBE and the music legend Brian May, also co-founder of the festival. The festival also brought an unprecedented musical program with exclusive performances by the popular Californian punk-rock band THE OFFSPRING, Tony Hadley — the former lead singer of the British pop icon from the 1980s SPANDAU BALLET — and more one-off live performances.

As if this were not enough, the festival brought to Bratislava its signature prestigious Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication which awards excellence across four categories: Music & Arts, Science Writing, Films & Entertainment, and Lifetime Achievement. The winners are selected by the Starmus Advisory Board made up of a prestigious cast of eminent figures such as Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Peter Gabriel, David Eicher, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Richard Dawkins, Tony Fadell, Jill Tarter and Starmus co-founders Brian May and Garik Israelian.

In addition, the Starmus organization signed agreements with the main Slovak universities and academic institutions, like the Comenius University in Bratislava and the Academy Of Fine Arts & Design, the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, the Alexander Dubcek University of Trencin and the Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia. Through these academic collaborations, Starmus carried out its "City Program" with exclusive activities between the speakers and the Slovak academic environment as well as several volunteer programs to be part of the festival.

Since the very first homo sapiens looked up at a star-filled sky, we have been awestruck by the vastness of the cosmos. Even today, we remain humbled by the sheer immensity of space, especially as progress in physics and astronomy has made us aware of the tremendous distances involved — even to our closest neighboring stars.

Created by Garik Israelian PhD, astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) and Sir Brian May PhD, astrophysicist and the lead guitarist of the iconic rock band QUEEN, Starmus is a festival of science, art and music that has featured presentations from astronauts, cosmonauts, Nobel Prize winners and prominent figures from various scientific disciplines and musical backgrounds. Starmus brings Nobel laureates, eminent researchers, astronauts, thinkers and artists together to share their knowledge and experiences, as we search for answers to the great questions.