Roger Taylor

Roger Meddows Taylor is the drummer in Queen

## early life

Roger Taylor was born in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, on July 26th 1949, Roger became fascinated with music in the early 50s, when his family moved to Cornwall. He learned his first instrument, the ukulele, at a tender age, and enjoyed a brief taste of things to come in a pre-teen skiffle band whose collective talent survived just two public performances, both apparently excruciating!

## the 60s

His music took on a different direction in 1960, when he became a rather reluctant member of the Truro Cathedral Choir -- a prerequisite of his scholarship. He taught himself the guitar around this time, but by the following year had moved over to drums.

By 1966 Roger had not only progressed to drumming in Cornwall's most popular band, the Reaction, but had also become their lead singer, with his drum kit placed -- where else? -- in the principal position, at the front of the stage. That year, the Reaction won a hotly- contested local talent contest and, according to newspaper reports, were duly "mobbed by young girls".

While maintaining his keen interest in music, Roger decided to study dentistry, and in 1967 moved to London to enrol at the London Hospital Medical College. He later studied biology, obtaining a BSc in the subject.

## smile days

In 1968 Roger formed another group, Smile, with Middlesex guitar ace Brian May. Smile played sporadically over the next few years and even issued a single in the United States. By 1971, Roger had long abandoned any desire to become a dentist or a biologist, and with new additions to the line-up John Deacon and Freddie Mercury, Smile became known as Queen.

## Queen

The Queen legend often refers to how Taylor and Mercury were particularly close, and spent many hours on the town together seeing bands who at that time were their heroes: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, The Who, all of whom influenced them and helped shape the musical destiny of Queen.

Roger began writing songs for Queen from day one, and each of the band's fifteen studio albums included at least one of his compositions. History notes that all four members of Queen wrote No.1 singles: Taylor dutifully provided his with *Radio Ga Ga* , *A Kind Of Magic and These Are The Days Of Our Lives* amongst his.1977 was the landmark year in which Queen released *We Are The Champions* and *We Will Rock You*. Roger bought a Ferrari, and became the first member of Queen to launch a solo career with the release of the single *I Wanna Testify*.

## going solo

His solo album Fun In Space followed in 1981, and was succeeded by 1984's rock-based *Strange Frontier*. Both LPs reached the Top 30. In 1987 Roger formed his own band The Cross, in which after more than 20 years he finally resumed the role of lead singer. The Cross released three distinctive albums and toured extensively in the UK and Europe.

## losing Fred

After the tragic death of Freddie Mercury, Roger returned to his solo career with 1994's *Happiness?*, an album on which he explored the theme of *"dealing with life and looking for happiness"*. The success of the album prompted further tours of the UK and Italy. Then came perhaps his most potent album, *Electric Fire*, which clearly showed Taylor as an acute observational songwriter. Rich in contemporary reflections on life, the album was full of attention-grabbing songs tackling thought-provoking and sometimes challenging issues — national obsolescence, domestic violence, and poverty, among them. One track, People *On Streets*, was inspired by visits Roger made to India and the inequalities he witnessed in the fortunes of that country's vast population. Never shy to express himself, several super- rich and powerful world figures get name checked in the song.

## other facts

Roger worked on the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and the musical we will rock you.

he knows how to play the guitar, tambourine, maracas and ukuele.

he came up with the idea for the i want to break free music video

he loves cars, i mean loves cars

**Favourite Musician:** Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon
**Favourite Group:** The Who, Jimi Hendrix Experience