Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer)

Last updated

Roger Taylor
Roger Taylor Crop at SxSW.jpg
Born
Roger Andrew Taylor

(1960-04-26) 26 April 1960 (age 64)
Birmingham, England
OccupationMusician
Years active1979–1986; 1994–1995; 1997–present
Spouses
  • Giovanna Cantone
    (m. 1984;div. 2005)
  • Gisella Bernales
    (m. 2007)
Children4
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Drums
  • percussion
Member of Duran Duran
Formerly of Arcadia

Roger Andrew Taylor (born 26 April 1960) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the new wave band Duran Duran from their inception until 1985, and again from 2001 onwards. Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records worldwide. [1] Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022 as a member of Duran Duran. [2]

Contents

Life and career

Early life

Roger Andrew Taylor was born into a modest family and was brought up in the Shard End area of Birmingham until the age of 11, and then a small suburban house in Castle Bromwich (15 Hawthorne Road). His father worked in the car industry. He began drumming at around the age of 12, teaching himself by playing along with his favourite records. His first ambition was to be a goalkeeper for English football club Aston Villa, and as a child he was taken to every home match by his father. He would eventually "play" at Villa Park but as Duran Duran's drummer for their 1983 charity concert there. [3] Taylor has cited Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones and Budgie of Siouxsie and the Banshees as two of his favourite drummers. [4]

Before joining Duran Duran, Taylor performed with several school (Park Hall School in Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire) and local club bands. After being inspired by the punk bands playing at Barbarellas club in Birmingham, he formed the new wave/punk outfit Scent Organs, who became regional finalists in the Melody Maker young band of the year in 1978, and was briefly a member of post-punk band Cult Figures. After Scent Organs split in 1979, he joined Duran Duran. He became known as 'the quiet one' and has said that he has always preferred to speak through his drums.[ citation needed ]

1979–1986: Duran Duran

Taylor in 1983 Roger Taylor - Duran Duran 1983 (cropped).jpg
Taylor in 1983

Taylor became an international star with the other members of Duran Duran as they rose to fame in the early 1980s. The video for the debut single Planet Earth opens with a shot of a reclining, bare-chested Taylor looking slowly up to the sky. He played drums on the band's first three studio albums ( Duran Duran , Rio , and Seven and the Ragged Tiger ) and the live album Arena . In 1985, the band recorded the theme to the James Bond film A View to a Kill , which became their second US No. 1 hit and the only Bond theme to date to reach No. 1 there. However, the intense schedule of recording and touring, coupled with the pressures of fame, left Taylor unhappy with being in the band. His final performance with the original line-up of Duran Duran was in July 1985 at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia, which reached a global audience of 2 billion people. Taylor and the band had each picked up two Grammy awards during this period.

Prior to leaving the band, he worked with Duran Duran bandmates Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes on the album So Red the Rose for their side project Arcadia in 1985. The album featured Sting, David Gilmour, Herbie Hancock and Grace Jones. Taylor also contributed percussion to the other Duran Duran splinter group the Power Station's song "Some Like It Hot" from their self-titled album. He then purchased a remote farm estate in the hills of Gloucestershire to live a quiet life away from the music world. The Sun newspaper tracked him down and devoted a whole page to his departure, dubbing him 'the hermit of pop'. Initially his hiatus was expected to be for a year, but in 1986 the remaining members of the band issued a statement saying that he was leaving Duran Duran.

1994 and 2001–present: Second tenure in Duran Duran

In 1994, while visiting a friend in Paris, he temporarily joined Duran Duran to play drums on three tracks for the covers album Thank You (although only two ended up on the album), later appearing in the video for "Perfect Day" and on the band's Top of the Pops performance of the song.

In 1997, Taylor regained his appetite for the music industry. He briefly formed the electro/dance band Freebass, which produced a single, "Love Is Like Oxygen", (a cover of a song by Sweet) on underground dance label Cleveland City Records. The record reached the top ten of the Music Week UK Dance Chart. Taylor also produced electro house tracks with Freebass member Jake Roberts under the name Funk Face. "Lost This Feeling" and "Shine" were released on Taylor's own label, Rt Music.

He rejoined Duran Duran in 2001, as all five of the Rio-era members reunited to record new material and perform as a quintet again. This culminated in five sold-out nights at Wembley Arena, playing Madison Square Garden again, and signing with Epic Records in New York. The band delivered a hit single '(Reach Up for The) Sunrise' and a hit album Astronaut .

The 'Astronaut' tour lasted for more than two years, with shows all around the world. The band picked up several prestigious 'achievement' awards from Q magazine and MTV, and a Brit award.

He began a long-running DJ residency at London's Met Bar in 2003, playing a mix of house and hip-hop, and has gone on to become a renowned DJ over recent years, performing sets at Cielo New York and Pacha Ibiza along with friend and former Freebass band mate Jake (Fonique) Roberts.

The All You Need Is Now album was released on 21 December 2010 to worldwide critical acclaim. It immediately reached the number 1 spot on the iTunes pop chart in 15 countries. Duran Duran commenced a supporting tour running well into 2012 reaching far and wide across the world. The band also played to an audience of 70,000 people in Hyde Park to coincide with the opening of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Taylor then began working with his bandmates on the 14th Duran Duran album with producers Mark Ronson, Ben Hudson and Nile Rodgers; Paper Gods was released in 2015.

In January 2016, Peace Tracks, a charitable organization that aims to bridge different cultures and countries through music, released a number of songs that featured Taylor in collaboration with members of ABBA, Philip Glass, Angélique Kidjo, and Anoushka Shankar.

Personal life

Taylor has three children with his first wife Giovanna Cantone, whom he later divorced. In 2004, he was named Britain's fifth most eligible bachelor in the UK high society magazine Tatler , alongside Prince William and Hugh Grant. Taylor married Peruvian national Gisella Bernales on the Caribbean island of St Lucia in 2007. She gave birth to their first child on 9 July 2011.[ citation needed ]

Discography

with Duran Duran

with Arcadia

with Freebass

with Funk Face

Guest appearances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duran Duran</span> English band

Duran Duran are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of bassist Simon Colley and drummer Roger Taylor the following year, the band went through numerous personnel changes before May 1980, when they settled on their most famous line-up by adding guitarist Andy Taylor and lead vocalist Simon Le Bon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Taylor (Queen drummer)</span> English musician (born 1949)

Roger Meddows Taylor is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He achieved international fame as the drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Queen. As a drummer, Taylor was recognised early in his career for his unique sound and was voted the eighth-greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a listener poll conducted by Planet Rock in 2005. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 as a member of Queen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Taylor (bass guitarist)</span> British bassist and member of Duran Duran

Nigel John Taylor is a British musician who is best known as the bass guitarist for new wave band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the 1980s due in part to their music videos which played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV. Taylor played with Duran Duran from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He recorded a dozen solo releases through his private record label B5 Records over the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in a half dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a reunion of the original five members in 2001 and has remained with the group since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Rhodes</span> English musician and keyboardist of Duran Duran (born 1962)

Nick Rhodes is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member and the keyboardist of the band Duran Duran. He is also informally monikered as "the Controller", after being introduced as such on stage by bandmate Simon Le Bon during the Astronaut album world tours of 2004–2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Le Bon</span> British singer; lead vocalist of Duran Duran

Simon John Charles Le Bon is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

Anthony Terrence Thompson was an American session drummer best known as the drummer of the Power Station and a member of Chic.

<i>Duran Duran</i> (1981 album) 1981 studio album by Duran Duran

Duran Duran is the debut studio album by the English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 15 June 1981 through EMI. Produced by Colin Thurston, it was recorded in London and Oxfordshire between December 1980 and January 1981. The instrumental tracks were recorded quickly, but vocalist Simon Le Bon initially struggled to sing in the studio, leading to discussions about replacing him before EMI employee Dave Ambrose intervened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Power Station (band)</span> British-American rock supergroup

The Power Station were a British-American 1980s/1990s rock and pop music supergroup originally formed in New York City and London in 1984. It was made up of singer Robert Palmer, former Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John Taylor (bass) and Andy Taylor (guitar). Bernard Edwards, also of Chic, was involved on the studio side as recording producer and for a short time also functioned as the Power Station's manager. Edwards also replaced John Taylor on bass for the recording of the band's second album. The band was formed in New York City late in 1984 during a break in Duran Duran's schedule that became a lengthy hiatus. The Power Station was named after the Power Station recording studio in New York, where their first album was conceived and recorded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Cuccurullo</span> American musician (born 1956)

Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1986 Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Taylor (guitarist)</span> English guitarist and member of Duran Duran

Andrew James Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of Duran Duran and the Power Station. He has also recorded and performed as a solo artist, and served as a guitarist, songwriter, and record producer for the likes of Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart, the Almighty, Thunder, Love and Money, Mark Shaw, Then Jerico, C. C. Catch, Paul Rodgers, Belinda Carlisle, and Gun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Sorum</span> American drummer

Matthew William Sorum is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. Sorum is currently on tour with Billy Gibbons, with whom he also records, is a member of the touring project Kings of Chaos, and is a former member of both The Cult and Y Kant Tori Read. Sorum was also a member of Guns N' Roses side projects, Slash's Snakepit and Neurotic Outsiders, and has released two solo albums, Hollywood Zen (2004) and Stratosphere (2014). He was the touring drummer for the supergroup Hollywood Vampires from 2015 to 2017. His latest project is Deadland Ritual, featuring Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, and Apocalyptica vocalist Franky Perez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragon (band)</span> Rock band

Dragon are a New Zealand rock band which was formed in Auckland in January 1972, and, from 1975, based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The band was originally fronted by singer Graeme Collins, but rose to fame with singer Marc Hunter and is currently led by his brother, bass player and co-founder Todd Hunter. The group performed, and released material, under the name Hunter in Europe and the United States during 1987.

<i>Seven and the Ragged Tiger</i> 1983 studio album by Duran Duran

Seven and the Ragged Tiger is the third studio album by the English rock band Duran Duran, released on 21 November 1983 through EMI and Capitol Records. Co-produced by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and the band, recording sessions took place in France, the Caribbean and Australia between April and October 1983 following Duran Duran's decision to record outside the UK as tax exiles. Unlike their previous two studio albums, the sessions were marred by a lack of productivity and tensions rose between the band members over its direction.

<i>Notorious</i> (Duran Duran album) 1986 studio album by Duran Duran

Notorious is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Duran Duran, released on 18 November 1986 by EMI Records. Produced by the band with Nile Rodgers, its musical style differed from the band's previous albums with a funk rock sound. It is the first album to feature the band as a trio with singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor as drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor both left by the time the album was released. Andy Taylor would later be replaced by former Missing Persons guitarist Warren Curcurullo, who completed recording parts of the album in addition to Rodgers and session drummer Steve Ferrone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duran Duran discography</span>

English new wave band Duran Duran have released 16 studio albums, four live albums, four compilation albums, two remix albums, two box sets, seven extended plays, 46 singles and 14 video albums. Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records. The band have achieved UK top-five albums in five consecutive decades, and US top-10 albums in three decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SR-71 (band)</span> American rock band

SR-71 was an American rock band formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1998. They are best known for their 2000 single "Right Now", their 2002 single "Tomorrow", and as the original authors of Bowling for Soup's 2004 hit "1985". The name of the band came from SR-71 Blackbird, a supersonic surveillance aircraft of the United States Air Force. The band was originally known as Honor Among Thieves, and as was later the case with SR-71, lead singer Mitch Allan was the only constant member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Thompson (musician)</span> English drummer (born 1951)

Paul Thompson is an English drummer, who is best known as a member of the rock band Roxy Music. He is a member of Andy Mackay's project with the Metaphors and joined Lindisfarne in 2013. He was also the drummer for Oi! band Angelic Upstarts and the American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungry Like the Wolf</span> 1982 song by Duran Duran

"Hungry Like the Wolf" is a song by English new wave band Duran Duran. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Colin Thurston for the group's second studio album, Rio (1982). The song was released on 4 May 1982 as the band's fifth single in the United Kingdom, and 8 June 1982 in the United States. It reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and received a platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Reportage is the working title of an unfinished album that English rock band Duran Duran wrote and recorded as the intended follow-up to their 2004 reunion album Astronaut. After the departure of original guitarist Andy Taylor in 2006, the band decided to start over with a new batch of songs that became 2007's Red Carpet Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Henriksen</span> American musician (born 1964)

Tommy Henriksen is an American musician from Port Jefferson Station, New York, best known for his work as a guitarist, bassist and songwriter with Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires, Crossbone Skully and German metal band Warlock. He has also fronted punk rockers P.O.L. and released several albums as a solo artist. In addition, Henriksen is a songwriter, arranger, producer and mixer who has worked with artists such as Lady Gaga, Meat Loaf, Lou Reed, Halestorm, Kesha, and Daughtry. Henriksen is currently based out of Zurich, Switzerland where he lives with his family.

References

  1. "Duran Duran to Get ASCAP Golden Note Award at London's ASCAP Awards". Billboard. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  2. "Duran Duran Honor Their Fans and the Bands That Inspired Them in 'Rock & Roll Hall of Fame' Speech". Rolling Stone . 6 November 2022.
  3. Andy Taylor (9 September 2008). Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 9–. ISBN   978-0-446-54606-5.
  4. "Duran Durans Roger Taylor Talks About Exploring The Bands Dark Side With Their New Album". A.V. Club. 30 October 2023.

Further reading