Soundtrack Composer Brian May Dead At 63

Brian May, a noted Australian composer who wrote the theme music for 33 movies, including “Mad Max” and “Gallipoli,” died Friday. He was 63.

May was visiting friends in Melbourne when he had a heart attack, according to sources at the Australian Broadcasting Corp., where May once worked as the musical director.

May’s legacy includes a repertoire of theme music for 33 movies and 17 soundtrack albums.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he became a household name with an ABC show, “Brian May Show Band,” a regular feature of variety entertainment programs.

He left ABC in 1982 to work in movies, building an international reputation as a prolific composer.

Among the notable film scores he composed was that of “Gallipoli,” an Australian movie focusing on the role of Australian troops in the battle for Gallipoli, Turkey, one of World War I’s bloodiest fights.

The campaign ended disastrously with the Australia New Zealand Army Corps, or ANZAC, losing 11,000 of its 68,000 soldiers. Their gallantry is commemorated annually in the two countries on April 25, the day May died.

May is survived by a wife and four children. Funeral arrangements were not known immediately.