What do you get when you cross a rock star with a physics professor? You get Professor Brian Cox!

Cox made his start not as a scientist, but as a musician when his band signed a record deal in the late 80s. He then went on to join another group called D:Ream several years later, whose hit song “Things Can Only Get Better” was chosen as Tony Blair’s well known theme song for his election campaign in 1997. The typical lifestyle of successful musicians includes a lot of things, but higher education is not at the top of that list. Then again, Brain Cox is anything but typical.

During his years with D:Ream, Cox also pursued degrees in science. He ultimately earned a degree in physics and a PhD in High Energy Particle Physics, all while continuing to perform with a band that was topping music charts in the UK. Once he had completed his schooling, his love for physics and the endless possibilities of the universe still waiting to be discovered was strong enough to cause a major career change. Brian is now completely dedicated to physics research and education, was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honors list for services to science, and has forged yet another well deserved claim to fame.

Professor Cox currently holds a chair in Particle Physics at the University of Manchester. But teaching is only the beginning of this former musician’s scientific contributions. He also works on the ATLAS Experiment at CERN in Geneva with the world famous Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Here, he spends his time smashing protons together at unbelievably high speeds and studying the results. The findings from these collisions could help us discover the forces that created our universe. Hey, if finding out how the universe was born isn’t a good start to a physics resume, we don’t know what is!

As if the ATLAS Experiment wasn’t impressive enough, Cox is also a part of the FP420 R&D Experiment. He and a team of highly respected scientists from 10 different countries are working to design changes to the Large Hadron Collider that would improve measurements taken from proton collisions. It may even allow researchers to find and record results that the current design can’t detect at all!

Professor Brian Cox is a highly unusual and incredibly exciting combination of both his past and former lives. As the host of Wonders of the Solar System, he leads viewers on a journey to some of the Solar System’s most powerful, beautiful and awe-inspiring places with energy and enthusiasm that are nothing short of contagious.