Roger Taylor (Queen drummer)

Roger Taylor

Roger Meddows Taylor (born 26 July 1949 in Dersingham, Norfolk, England), known as Roger Taylor, is an English musician best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of the most influential rock drummers of the 1970s and 1980s. As a songwriter he contributed songs to the band's albums from the very beginning, composing at least one track on every album, and (in the early days) usually sang lead vocals on his own compositions. He also wrote four of the band's hits, "Radio Ga Ga", "A Kind of Magic", "The Invisible Man", and "These Are the Days of Our Lives". He plays multiple instruments, including guitar, bass and keyboards, as heard on his debut solo album in which he played all instruments and sang all vocals. He has played with such artists as Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Phil Collins, Genesis, Jimmy Nail, Elton John, Gary Numan, Shakin' Stevens, Foo Fighters, Al Stewart, Steve Vai, Yoshiki Hayashi, Cherie, and Bon Jovi. As a producer he has produced albums by Virginia Wolf, Jimmy Nail and Magnum. He lives in Guildford, Surrey.

In addition to his drum work, he routinely played the guitars and bass on his own songs. During the 1980s, in addition to his work with Queen, he formed a parallel band known as The Cross, in which he was the singer and rhythm guitarist. In 2005 he was voted by UK fans as the 8th greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a poll conducted by Planet Rock Radio.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List he was worth £65 million as of 2009.

Biography

Born in East Anglia, Roger Taylor moved to Truro, Cornwall, with mother Winifred, father Michael, and younger sister Clare. When he was 7 years old he formed his first band, called the Bubblingover Boys, with a couple of friends. He played the ukulele. At the age of 15 he became a member of The Reaction, a very busy semi-pro rock band formed mainly of boys from Truro School. In 1967, he went to go to London to study Dentistry. He met Brian May and Tim Staffell in 1968 after seeing an advert on a noticeboard at Imperial College, and they decided to form the band Smile, which lasted from 1968–1970. In 1969, Taylor was working with Freddie Mercury at the Kensington Market (they were living in a flat together at the time) and they formed Queen in 1970 after the breakup of Smile. In 1971 they found bassist John Deacon and brought him into the group, before going on to release their first single and album in 1973.

By the time News of the World came out, Roger met his future girlfriend Dominique Beyrand. She was working for Richard Branson at the time, who was at the helm of Queen's free concert at Hyde Park. They lived together from 1980–1987, raising their two children, Felix Luther and Rory Eleanor. They decided to get married for reasons relating to Taylor's estate, to protect his children's interest in the future. At the time, Roger was seeing another girl, Debbie Leng (also seen in the 'Breakthru' video); he moved in with her a month after his marriage of convenience to Dominique. Before the death of Freddie Mercury, Roger and Debbie had their first child, Rufus Tiger, who was born in March 1991. He ended up having two more children with Debbie: Tiger Lily, who was born in 1994, and Lola Daisy May, who was born in 2000. In late 2002, Roger and Debbie decided to break up. Roger remarried on 3 October 2010, to Sarina Potgieter, his girlfriend of six years.

Smile

Main article: Smile (band)

Smile were formed in 1968 by Brian May, included Tim Staffell as singer and bassist, and later Taylor on drums. The band only lasted for 2 years from 1968–1970 as Staffell left in 1970, leaving the band with only a catalogue of 9 songs:

• "Earth" (Staffell)
• "Step On Me" (Staffell/May) originally from May and Staffell's band 1984.
• "Doin' Alright" (Staffell/May)
• "Blag" (Taylor)
• "Polar Bear" (May)
• "Silver Salmon" (Staffell)
• "See What A Fool I've Been" (May, based on the song "That's How I Feel" by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee)
• "If I Were a Carpenter" (Tim Hardin) a cover regularly featuring in their live set.
• "April Lady" (Lucas) a song presented to the band by Mercury Records during their second studio session.

Smile would reunite for several songs on 22 December 1992. Taylor's band The Cross were headliners and he brought May and Staffell on to play "Earth" and "If I Were a Carpenter".

Queen

Main article: Queen (band)

Queen in 1979.

Taylor was a prominent songwriter for the band, usually contributing one or two tracks per record.

His compositions for Queen include:

• "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll" (Queen)
• "The Loser in the End" (Queen II)
• "Tenement Funster" (Sheer Heart Attack)
• "Stone Cold Crazy" (Co-written with John Deacon, Brian May, and Freddie Mercury) (Sheer Heart Attack)
• "I'm in Love With My Car" (A Night at the Opera)
• "Drowse" (A Day at the Races)
• "Fight From the Inside" (News of the World)
• "Sheer Heart Attack" (News of the World)
• "More of That Jazz" (Jazz)
• "Fun It" (Jazz)
• "A Human Body" (non-album B-side of "Play the Game" single)
• "Rock It (Prime Jive)" (The Game)
• "Coming Soon" (The Game)
• "In the Space Capsule (The Love Theme)" (Flash Gordon)
• "In the Death Cell (Love Theme Reprise)" (Flash Gordon)
• "Escape From the Swamp" (Flash Gordon)
• "Marriage of Dale and Ming (And Flash Approaching)" (Co-written with Brian May) (Flash Gordon)
• "Action This Day" (Hot Space)
• "Calling All Girls" (Hot Space)
• "Radio Ga Ga" (The Works)
• "Machines (or Back to Humans)" (Co-written with Brian May) (The Works)
• "Thank God It's Christmas" (Co-written with Brian May) (Single)
• "A Kind of Magic" (A Kind of Magic)
• "Don't Lose Your Head" (A Kind of Magic)
• "Heaven for Everyone (Made in Heaven)

Songs written by Roger, but credited the band collectively include

• "The Invisible Man (song) (The Miracle)
• "Breakthru" (intro written by Freddie Mercury) (The Miracle)
• Innuendo (song)" (lyrics written by Roger Taylor) (Innuendo)
• "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (Innuendo)
• Ride the Wild Wind - (Innuendo)

Many of these feature Roger on vocals. Roger Taylor's voice was very recognizable, for both its high range (he would often reach a E5 in full voice during live performances) and raspiness. His extremely high falsetto, sometimes going above a A5, was characteristic of Queen's vocal harmonies, and was often thought to be a woman's voice, or a synthesizer effect (most notably his screams on "In The Lap of the Gods" written by Freddie however). His vocal range spans 3 1/2 octaves (A2-E6)

Roger Taylor on lead and partial vocals that are worth to be pointed out

• Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll – Queen (1973)
• Keep Yourself Alive – Queen (1973)- Call and response with Brian May, rest sung by Freddie
• Loser in the End – Queen II (1974)
• March of the Black Queen – Queen II (1974) – Lead vocals on one line "My life is in your hands, I’ll foe and I’ll fie", rest sung by Freddie
• Tenement Funster – Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
• In the Lap of the Gods - Sheer Heart Attack (1974) - falsetto screams
• I'm In Love With My Car – A Night At The Opera (1975)
• Bohemian Rhapsody - A Night At The Opera (1975) - Leads the high-falsetto vocals (such as the scream-part "FOR ME...", that blasts the song off to the heavier section)
• Drowse- A Day at the Races (1976)
• Sheer Heart Attack (song) – News of the World (1977) – Lead-Chorus
• Fight from the Inside – News of the World (1977)
• Fun It – Jazz (1978)- Duet with Freddie
• More of That Jazz – Jazz (1978)
• Rock It (Prime Jive) – The Game (1980) – Lead vocals, except for the intro, sung by Freddie
• Coming Soon – The Game (1980) – Lead-Chorus
• A Human Body B-side of "Play the Game" (1980)
• Action This Day – Hot Space (1982) – Lead-Chorus
• Don't Lose Your Head – A Kind of Magic (1986) – Lead-Chorus
• The Invisible Man – The Miracle (1989) – Lead-Chorus
• Hijack My Heart – The Miracle -B-side to The Invisible Man (song) (1989)
• Ride the Wild Wind - Innuendo (1991) - additional vocals
• Let Me Live – Made In Heaven (1995)- Lead vocals on the second verse
• No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young) (1997) – Lead vocals on the second verse

Solo career

Taylor has had a productive solo career, releasing four albums. His first single was his 1977 cover of The Parliaments' "I Wanna Testify". He recorded it during Queen's sessions for the News of the World album. The A-side, although a cover, was completely different from the original. The B-side was a self-penned song "Turn On The TV".

His first solo album, Fun In Space, was released in 1981. Taylor performed all vocals and played all the instruments aside of about 50% of the keyboards, which were done by engineer David Richards. With Queen still touring heavily and recording at the time of release, it was impossible for Taylor to promote the album to its fullest extent, so he appeared on some European TV shows to promote the single, "Future Management", including Top Of The Pops. The only other single to come from the album was "My Country". The only single released from the album in the U.S. was "Let's Get Crazy".

His next venture came in July 1984 when, after Mercury rejected a lot of his songs for the Queen album, The Works, Taylor realised he had more than enough for a full album. The album became Strange Frontier. The cover of the album is a 'pixelated' signing of his portrait photo that appeared in the liner notes of the Works album. The three singles from the album were the title track, "Beautiful Dreams" (in Portugal only) and "Man On Fire", the latter becoming a live favourite for him in later years. No attempts to promote the singles were made since Queen toured to promote 1984's The Works album, which made a Strange Frontier tour impossible, and Taylor did not perform on any TV shows. Strange Frontier included guest appearances by bandmates Freddie Mercury and John Deacon. Freddie Mercury sang backing vocals on "Killing Time", John Deacon remixed the B-side "I Cry For You," and Rick Parfitt co-wrote and played on "It's An Illusion". David Richards, the Queen engineer and producer at the time, also co-wrote two of the tracks. The album includes covers of Bruce Springsteen's "Racing in the Street" and Bob Dylan's "Masters of War".

After Queen finished their 1986 Magic Tour, Taylor started a new band, The Cross, which released three albums over their six years of existence. In 1993 the band split up, after performing one final gig at the Gosport Festival.

In 1994 he worked with Yoshiki Hayashi, drummer and pianist of X Japan and released the song "Foreign Sand" and a reworking of The Cross' "Final Destination". The album Happiness? was "Dedicated to the tasmanian tiger – thylacinus cynocephalus, but most especially... for Freddie". "Nazis 1994" from this album became Taylor's first hit single in England and was followed by two other Top 40 U.K. hits, "Happiness" and "Foreign Sand."

In 1998 he released his fourth solo album Electric Fire. He supported it with a small tour in the spring of 1999, on which Queen-guitarist Brian May joined him at the gig in Wolverhampton. Taylor also performed one of the first Internet-gigs – for which he got a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

After nearly 12 years between solo albums, in 2010 Taylor is said to plan to release a new studio album entitled The Unblinking Eye (Everything Is Broken). The first single, of the same name, was released on 23 November 2009 as a digital download, but due to popular demand it was released as a limited edition single. Originally leaked to the official Queen fan club's website for members only, it still managed to be on YouTube within hours of the early bird release.

The Cross

Main article: The Cross

The Cross were a side project of Taylor's that existed from 1987 to 1993 and released three albums. While still the drummer for Queen, Taylor fronted The Cross as rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist. On its debut release, the rock band incorporated dance influences which they dropped on their remaining two albums. The band never enjoyed much commercial success, except in Germany.

First album: Shove It

Taylor performing with The Cross in 1990.

After Queen's 1986 Magic Tour, the band members went their separate ways to do various solo work. Taylor decided to form a new band with whom he could tour. He had already written and recorded the album himself before finding a band to play the songs with. He eventually placed an ad for band members in a national newspaper, hinting he was a famous rock musician. The position of keyboard player was duly offered to Spike Edney after two successful Queen tours in which Edney had played. When the auditions were over, the line-up was completed by Peter Noone on Bass, Clayton Moss on Guitar, and Joshua J Macrae on Drums. Taylor himself would take the responsibility on lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist.

The first album, Shove It, was released in 1988. In Europe, Heaven for Everyone (later a Queen song) contained Freddie Mercury on lead vocals and Taylor on backing vocals. However, on the single version and the American album version the roles were reversed. The European CD contained an extra track (compared to cassette and LP) in The 2nd Shelf Mix, the US version having "Feel The Force" as its extra track. The band promoted hard (especially in Germany), with many TV performances of singles including an appearance at the Montreux Golden Rose festival in 1988. The tour took in dates in the UK and Germany. Three singles were released from the album: "Cowboys and Indians", "Heaven for Everyone" and "Shove It". Another single, "Manipulator," was released in 1988, but it was not included on any album. It was also the only song from the time that had joint writing credits, Taylor sharing them with Spike Edney and Steve Strange.

Second album: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

Taylor performing with The Cross in 1990.

After finishing Queen's 1989 album The Miracle, Taylor went into the studio with the rest of The Cross for the first time to record Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. The band composed the opening track "On Top Of The World Ma" with a riff bearing a resemblance to the Led Zeppelin track Whole Lotta Love. The rest of the album consisted mainly of individually written songs, except for "Power To Love" which was the result of the combined effort of Macrae, Noone and Moss. Clayton Moss sang lead vocals on his own track "Better Things", and Spike Edney played mandolin on "Final Destination", which was written by Taylor. "Final Destination" was released as a single, as were "Liar" and "Power To Love", the latter being the last single to be released in the UK by the group. "Final Destination" came with a live rendition of Taylor's song "Man On Fire" as a B-side, and "Liar" (Noone) had a brand new track, "In Charge Of My Heart", which was also penned by Taylor. The 12" single and CD of "Liar" also included extended remixes of both "Liar" and "In Charge Of My Heart". The instrumental section at the beginning of "In Charge Of My Heart" was used as the opening to concerts on the accompanying tour. "Closer To You" (Edney) had been planned to be released in America, but never was. The group having seemingly given up on the UK market, the accompanying tour only included dates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Ibiza. Unusual for such tours, every song from the new album was played live.

Third album: Blue Rock

Made at a time when Taylor's efforts were concentrated on Queen and Mercury himself, Blue Rock gave the other members of the band a chance to take control of the upcoming album. It was in fact mostly written by Edney, who contributed three of his own tracks and contributed to four more. Once again the opening track was penned by the entire band, "Bad Attitude" was written (although not complete) by the Christmas fan club party of 1990. The album itself contained a lot of vocals not from Taylor, but mainly of Edney and Noone. Examples of this can be heard in "Put It All Down To Love" (Edney) "Life Changes" (Moss, Noone, Edney and Macrae) and "Heartland" (The B-side to Life Changes, penned by Noone). Blue Rock itself was only released in Germany (although promo copies were released in Italy and Japan), so copies are somewhat rare. "New Dark Ages" (Taylor) was released in Germany with another live version of "Man On Fire", whilst "Life Changes" was released with the B-side "Heartland". It was however immediately withdrawn due to the death of Freddie Mercury. The tour was in support of Magnum, so the concert lengths were short (45 mins.) and very few bootlegs have survived. The tour pace was rapid, covering 20 dates in one month.

Break up

The band broke up in 1993 after performing a final show. Taylor continued working with Queen and produced solo albums. Drummer Macrae accompanied Taylor on his solo tours and also played percussion at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Both Taylor and keyboardist Edney participated in the Queen + Paul Rodgers tours, while Macrae worked behind the scenes as co producer, sound engineer and Pro Tools engineer for them. In the late 1990s, Edney formed the SAS Band ("Spike's All Stars"), a group with an ever-changing lineup of popular 80s musicians.

Recent events

2000's

At Live Earth in 2007, Taylor opened the concert with Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Taylor has appeared along with May for various other events and promotions, including Queen's 2001 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (sans John Deacon, but with Jer Bulsara, mother of Freddie Mercury, present) and the "Party at the Palace", celebrating the golden jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Taylor and May, performing as Queen, also appeared twice on the American singing contest television show American Idol, once on 11 April 2006, during which week contestants were required to sing a Queen song, (which included "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "The Show Must Go On", "Who Wants to Live Forever", and "Innuendo"); and the second time on the show's Season 8 finale in May 2009, performing "We Are the Champions" with finalists Adam Lambert and Kris Allen.

In November 2009, Taylor appeared on the popular reality TV show The X Factor with band mate Brian May as Queen mentoring the contestants, then later performing Bohemian Rhapsody. Also in that month, Taylor confirmed he is planning to tour with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, which Taylor described as a "quick tour".

Queen and Paul Rodgers

2005 Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour

Main article: Queen + Paul Rodgers

From his last solo album Electric Fire in 1998 Taylor has been performing as a solo artist, as part of ensembles, and infrequently as Queen with Brian May.

At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers (founder and former lead singer of Free and Bad Company). Brian May's website also stated that Rodgers would be 'featured with' Queen as Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.

Between 2005 and 2006 Queen and Paul Rodgers embarked on a world tour, the first leg being Europe, the second Japan, and the US in 2006. On 15 August 2006, Brian May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at a "secret location". The album, titled The Cosmos Rocks, was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008. Following the album release the band embarked on a tour through Europe and South America, opening on Kharkov's freedom square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans. This performance was shown in theaters on 6 November 2008 for one airing only, and later released on DVD.

Discography

Main article: Roger Taylor discography

See also: Queen discography

Albums

• Fun in Space (1981)
• Strange Frontier (1984)
• Happiness? (1994)
• Electric Fire (1998)
• The Unblinking Eye (Everything Is Broken) (2011)

Influences

Taylor has stated that his main influence as a rock drummer is the late John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, speaking of Bonham, Taylor said,"The greatest Rock`n`Roll drummer of all time was John Bonham who did things that nobody had ever even thought possible before with the drum kit. And also the greatest sound out of his drums - they sounded enormous, and just one bass drum. So fast on it that he did more with one bass drum than most people could do with three, if they could manage them. And he had technique to burn and fantastic power and tremendous feel for rock`n`roll. " In a 2009 interview, Taylor also stated that Mitch Mitchell, the drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience was also a major influence of his. To name a few, modern drummers who themselves cite Taylor as an influence include Taylor Hawkins of The Foo Fighters, former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe.

Tours

Happiness? Tour

Happiness? Tour

Tour by Roger Taylor
Start date	July 28, 1994
End date	January 29, 1995

Date	City	Country	Venue
Europe
July 28, 1994	Gosport	England	Gosport Festival
September 15, 1994	London		Shepherds Bush Empire
Asia
September 26, 1994	Tokyo	Japan	Sun Plaza Hall
September 28, 1994	Kawasaki		Club Citta
September 30, 1994	Nagoya		Club Quatro
Europe
October 14, 1994	Cologne	Germany	Altes Presswerk
October 24, 1994	Milan	Italy	City Square
November 19, 1994	London	England	Shepherds Bush Empire
November 20, 1994	Cambridge		The Junction
November 22, 1994	Nottingham		Rock City
November 23, 1994	Newcastle		Riverside
November 24, 1994	Leeds		Leeds Irish Centre
November 26, 1994	Liverpool		Royal Court Theatre
November 27, 1994	Sheffield		The Leadmill
November 29, 1994	Glasgow	Scotland	The Garage
November 30, 1994	Bristol	England	Bierkeller
December 1, 1994	Milan	Italy	Mediolanum Forum
December 2, 1994	Truro	England	City Hall
December 3, 1994	Manchester		Manchester University
December 4, 1994	Wolverhampton		Civic Hall
December 8, 1994 Two Shows	Paris	France	Europe 1 Studios
January 16, 1995	Monfalcone	Italy	Hippodrome
January 17, 1995	Schio		Palazetto
January 18, 1995	Genova		Teatro Verdi
January 20, 1995	Casea		Vidia
January 21, 1995	Firenze		Teatro Tenda
January 22, 1995	Rome		Palladium
January 24, 1995	Valletta	Malta	Teatro Nazionale La Valetta
January 25, 1995	Palermo	Italy	Teatro Metropolitan
January 26, 1995	Catania
January 29, 1995	Napoli		Havana Club

Electric Fire Tour

Electric Fire Tour

Tour by Roger Taylor
Start date	September 24, 1998
End date	April 3, 1999

Date	City	Country	Venue
United Kingdom
September 24, 1998	Surrey	England	Cosford Mill
October 14, 1998	London		Shepherds Bush Empire
March 15, 1999	Glouster		Guildhall
March 16, 1999	Cardiff	Wales	Coal Exchange
March 18, 1999	Truro	England	Hall For Cornwall
March 19, 1999	Stoke-on-Trent		The Stage
March 20, 1999	Manchester		Manchester University
March 21, 1999	Sheffield		The Leadmill
March 23, 1999	Glasgow	Scotland	The Garage
March 23, 1999	Edinburgh		The Liquid Rooms
March 25, 1999	Newcastle	England	Newcastle University
March 27, 1999	Liverpool		Liverpool L2
March 28, 1999	Cambridge		The Junction
March 29, 1999	Norwich		The Waterfront
March 30, 1999	Wolverhampton		Civic Hall
March 31, 1999	Nottingham		Rock City
April 2, 1999	Portsmouth		Pyramid Centre
April 3, 1999	London		Astoria

Drum kit

Until 2008, Taylor exclusively used Ludwig or Sleishman drums kits, or a combination of the two in the 2005 Return of the Champtions Tour. In the recent Queen & Paul Rodgers 2008 The Cosmos Rocks tour he opted for a DW kit.

DW Natural satin Maple Kit Main kit on tour

Toms - 10"x8", 12"x 10" & 14"x12"
Floor Toms - 16"x 16" & 18"x16"
Bass Drum - 26"x 18"
Snare Drum - 14"x 8" (Ludwig Classic Maple)
Roto-Toms - 12" & 14" Remo

Cymbals (all Zildjian)

Hi-Hats - 15" Avedis New Beat
Crash: 17" K Dark Crash, 19" K Dark Crash & 20" K Dark Crash
Ride: 22" Avedis Ping Ride
China: 22" Oriental China Trash

Drum Pedal – DW 9002 (On all live performances with Queen, Taylor's pedal of choice was the Ludwig Speed King)

DW Black Mirra with 24 carat gold hardware Front of stage kit

Toms - 10"x8", 12"x10" & 14"x12"
Floor Toms - 16"x16" & 18"x16"
Bass Drum - 24"x18"
Sub-Bass Drum - 24" x 8"
Snare Drum - 14"x6.5"
Roto-Toms - 12" & 14" Remo

Stamps

In 1999 Taylor appeared in the background of a Royal Mail stamp featuring Freddie Mercury as part of a "Great Britons" issue. This caused controversy as it was an understood rule that the only living people allowed to appear on British stamps could be members of the Royal Family.

In 2002, Taylor appeared on the "Twelve Drummers Drumming" Christmas card in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" set sold at Woolworths to raise money for the NSPCC – alongside the "other" Roger Taylor, the drummer for Duran Duran.

External links

• Roger-Taylor.Net – UNofficial website
• Rogersmeadows.com – A Introspective Analysis of Roger Taylor and his Music
• Queen in Cornwall - includes an extensive description of Roger Taylor's early career