Brian May, Astronaut Chris Hadfield Perform at Starmus 2016

Share This:

“Not a rocket scientist…” Well, actually that’s exactly what Chris Hadfield is. He performs “Space Oddity” with Rick Wakeman

Some of rock music’s most visionary musicians and greatest scientific minds gathered together recently to salute lauded physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking. The event, Beyond The Horizon – A Tribute to Stephen Hawking, was the third annual Starmus Festival held in Tenerife and La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain from June 27th to July 2nd.

The Starmus International Festival is an international gathering focused on celebrating astronomy, space exploration, music, art, and allied sciences such as biology and chemistry. The music part of the program featured Oscar-winning film composer Hans Zimmer, Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May, renowned musical theater singing star Sarah Brightman, the Symphonic Orchestra of Tenerife Anathema and others. Rick Wakeman and Commander Chris Hadfield – whose version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” filmed on board the International Space Station, has been watched over 32 million times on YouTube – performed the song together. What a great voice!

The keynote address was also by a noted musical figure: musician, composer and producer Brian Eno, who spoke on the subject “At the Crossroads of Art and Science.” Here’s May and Zimmer performing together…

Don’t miss a post! Sign up for Best Classic Bands‘ Newsletter; form is on every page.

The scientific gathering has featured such musical talents in past years as Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream with Brian May guesting in 2013 and Wakeman and his band with May again as a guest player in 2014.

Here’s Hadfield and Wakeman performing “Space Oddity” at this year’s event…

“Starmus III invites, in this unique event, science experts and amateurs alike, along with the merely curious to plunge into the important threats and discoveries the world is facing at present,” says astrophysicist Garik Israelian, founder of the festival. Its board of directors include May and fellow rock star Peter Gabriel.

Here is May with Wakeman, among others, performing Queen’s “39,” a song about space exploration, at the 2014 event…