- If you are looking for the Queen drummer, see Roger Meddows-Taylor.
Roger Andrew Taylor (born April 26, 1960) is the drummer for the pop band Duran Duran.
He was born in Birmingham, England and began drumming around the age of twelve, teaching himself by playing along with his favorite records. He cites Paul Thompson of Roxy Music, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Tony Thompson of Chic as his key influences. He played with several school and local club bands, but was never paid for his efforts. Taylor's first paying gig came when he joined Duran Duran in 1979.
He climbed with the band to fame and fortune in the early 1980s (see Duran Duran for details). After their huge world tour in 1984, he was burned out and exhausted. He worked a little in 1985 with Duran bandmates Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes on the album So Red The Rose for their side project Arcadia, but that band never toured, and he did not participate in its promotion. He played a one-off show with Duran Duran at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia, but at the end of 1985 he retired to the English countryside with his wife and children.
In 1994, he joined Duran Duran in France to play drums on a couple of tracks for the covers album Thank You.
In 1997, after his children were grown, Taylor began flirting with the music industry again. He briefly formed the band Freebass, which produced a single but never got a record deal.
In 2001, Taylor rejoined Duran Duran, as all five of the original members reunited to record new material.
In 2002, Taylor appeared on the "Twelve Drummers Drumming" Chrismas card in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" set sold at Woolworths to raise money for the NSPCC – alongside his namesake from Queen!
