Brian May & Paul McCartney Among Stars Donating Signed Ties to Cancer Charity Auction

Brian May is one of several major rock stars who have contributed autographed neck ties and other clothing items to an online charity auction that launched Monday at eBay.co.uk .  Celebrity Loosen Up Auction will benefit the Cahonas Scotland organization, which seeks to raise awareness about cancers that specifically affect men.  The sale was timed to kick off on International Men’s Day — November 19 — and bidding will be open until this Sunday, November 25.

Among the other artists contributing items to the sale are Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Elvis Costello. McCartney has donated a beige tie that he signed and decorated with a red heart and a yellow flower.

According to the auction’s organizers, the type of signed items donated to the sale was chosen to represent that fact that some men feel “tongue tied” when it comes to talking about cancer and other health issues.

Other stars contributing items to the auction include Brad Pitt, Jay Leno, Mark Wahlberg, Sienna Miller, Katy Perry and tennis stars Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

Freddie Mercury biopic to be released in 2014

Credit: Dave Lifton

Few rockers have lived a life as deserving of a biopic as Queen‘s Freddie Mercury. Apparently, people in Hollywood agree, because yesterday (Oct. 10) guitarist Brian May spilled the news that such a film is in the works.

On his website, May confirmed that plans are underway for a movie starring Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator and star of ‘Da Ali G Show’ and ‘Borat,’ as Mercury to begin filming next spring, with a release coming a year later. May’s post was as follows:

Ah … I promised news of yesterday’s Queen band meeting. Well, it was just Roger and Jim Beach and myself … we are a small cottage industry !! Our main agenda was the Freddie film … which, I’m happy to tell you, is on course. Much of our discussion was about contractual things … it’s pretty complex …. and determining who is responsible for what. The pieces are all falling into place, though we are now on a slightly later schedule – filming is now scheduled to start in the Spring, with Sacha Baron Cohen playing Freddie. The film should be ready for release early in 2014.

As much as Baron Cohen, known for playing flamboyant characters, can probably do a very credible job playing the late singer, there is the issue of his height. Baron Cohen is listed at 6’3″, a good six inches taller than the 5’9″ Mercury. Still, it does make us wonder who will play the other members of the band.

May also mentioned that, at the meeting, the band made other plans, but refused to divulge the news beyond the tease. He concluded by saying that, “Being in Queen is — bizarrely — as full of surprising twists and turns as ever — 40 years since we first got together, and 20 years after losing Freddie. But of course Freddie is in so many ways very much alive. He must be wryly smiling somewhere !!!”

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan - who was behind 'The Queen' and 'Frost/Nixon' screenplays - will pen the script and the film is being co-produced by Robert DeNiro's TriBeCa Productions.