Roger Taylor (L) and friends in 1974
Roger Taylor has announced a U.K. solo tour this Autumn to introduce brand new material and to revisit some of his own Queen classics.
With the pandemic putting Queen + Adam Lambert’s U.K. and European tour on pause until 2022, the acclaimed drummer decided to hit the road for a set of intimate shows. The upcoming concerts will showcase his percussive, vocal and songwriting talents that have been integral to Queen’s live and recorded output since 1970. Tickets to Taylor’s 2021 tour are available here.
Marking his first live performances outside Queen in over two decades, Taylor, who turned 72 on July 26, will tour the U.K. across October playing 14 shows that will coincide with the release of his latest solo album, Outsider, on October 1, via Universal Music on CD, vinyl and cassette. A first song, featuring singer K.T. Tunstall, “We’re All Just Trying to Get By,” was released on Aug. 19. Watch the video below.
“This is my modest tour, I just want it to be lots of fun, very good musically, and I want everybody to enjoy it,” Taylor. “I’m really looking forward to it. Will I be playing Queen songs too? Absolutely!”
Taylor is the songwriter of many of Queen much-loved tracks including “Radio Ga Ga,” “I’m in Love With My Car,” “Sheer Heart Attack” and “These Are the Days of Our Lives.” The drummer and singer also co-wrote many others with his bandmates. The announcement describes the solo tour as “an enthusiastic foray into Queen and his own classic catalogues, while also including new songs written in lockdown that feature on the multi-instrumentalist’s new Outsider album.”
Watch the video for “We’re All Just Trying to Get By”
“For some time now, we’ve all just been trying to get by,” says Taylor. “Now, it’s back to the basics, myself and some great musical pals getting back out there to play some rock. Obviously, we’ll include some of the Queen classic catalogue, and some of my earlier solo work, but we’ll also be introducing them to some of the new stuff. So we hope folks are going to come on down.”
Watch Taylor perform “Radio Ga Ga” several years ago
The classic rock legend will perform with a specially assembled band for the tour made up of Queen + Adam Lambert’s keyboardist Spike Edney and supporting drummer Tyler Warren, plus guitarist Jason Falloon and Goldfrapp live players keyboardist Angie Pollock and bassist Charlie Jones.
Related: Our feature on singing drummers includes Taylor
Outsider is Taylor’s first album of new material since 2013’s Fun on Earth. Over the last decade, the drummer has also released the occasional solo track reflecting on his worldview and observations. His most recent was “Isolation,” which was written and recorded in response to the first lockdown last year.
Watch the video for “Isolation”
On recording the Outsider album after “Isolation,” Taylor says: “I’ve had a bit of a creative spurt and suddenly found myself with an album, which was lovely. It was a surprise!
“I just found myself in the studio and they came out one after the other. It was a pleasure really.”
The album’s instrumentation is almost entirely performed by Taylor, with his largely restrained vocals matching the album’s contemplative ambience. But Taylor does cut loose along the way with a foray into some hard-riffing blues-rock as well as an adrenalin-charged big surprise retread of a classic 1965 novelty song.
Roger Taylor 2021 U.K. Tour (Tickets are available here)
Oct 02 – NEWCASTLE – O2 Academy
Oct 03 – MANCHESTER – Academy
Oct 05 – YORK – Barbican
Oct 06 – CARDIFF – St. David’s Hall
Oct 08 – LIVERPOOL – O2 Academy
Oct 09 – NORWICH – University East Anglia
Oct 11 – BATH – Forum
Oct 12 – BOURNEMOUTH – O2 Academy
Oct 14 – PLYMOUTH – Pavilions
Oct 15 – NOTTINGHAM – Rock City
Oct 17 – BEXHILL – De La Warr Pavilion
Oct 19 – GUILDFORD – G Live
Oct 20 – COVENTRY – HMV Empire
Oct 22 – LONDON – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours
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