WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (CNN) -- The date was October 13, 2008. In four hours, Brian May was scheduled to appear at the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was nominated for nine trophies.
Instead, the English superstar found himself handcuffed in a downtown parking lot for attempting to buy machine guns and silencers in an undercover sting. He pleaded guilty to illegal weapons possession and was sentenced to seven months of house arrest, 1,500 hours of community service and one year in jail -- which he begins serving next March.
In the meantime, May's new CD, "The Cosmos Rocks," has become his band's third consecutive No. 1 album. And if that isn't enough, he sits at No. 1 and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "C-Lebrity" and "Surf's Up, School's Out."
CNN: When I first heard about the charges, I said, "You have got to be kidding. WHY?"
Brian May: Well, in order to fully understand the answer to that question, you will have to put yourself in my shoes. You know how many attempts have been made against my life? There are people out there that would rather kill you than to tell you "Good luck" or "I am happy for you." So until you understand that, you wouldn't understand my train of thought.