Roger Taylor Discography

• 
  Electric Fire
  (1998)
• 
  Happiness?
  (1994)
• 
  Strange Frontier
  (1984)
• 
  Fun In Space
  (1981)

Roger Andrew Taylor (born April 26, 1960 in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, England) is the drummer for the electronic pop/rock band Duran Duran.

He began drumming around the age of twelve, teaching himself by playing along with his favorite records. His first ambition was to become goalkeeper for English football club Aston Villa As a child he was taken to every home match by his father Hugh but at 5`9 never grew tall enough to realise his dream. He has cited drummers Paul Thompson of Roxy Music, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Tony Thompson of Chic as his key musical influences growing up.

Before joining Duran Duran, he played with several school and local club bands. After being inspired by the punk bands playing at Barbarellas club in Birmingham, he formed New Wave/Punk outfit Scent Organs, who became regional finalists in the `Melody Maker` young band of the year in 1978. After the band split in 1979 he joined Duran Duran.

He climbed with the band to fame and fortune in the early 1980s. Along with bass player John Taylor he gave the band their trademark powerful driving disco/rock rhythms. His dark brooding looks served as a pleasing contrast to the rest of the band`s more glamorous look.

After three multi-million worldwide selling studio albums and their huge world tour in 1984, which peaked with 3 nights at New York`s Madison Square Garden, Taylor was burned out and exhausted. He did, however, in 1985 work with Duran bandmates Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes on the album So Red The Rose for their side project Arcadia which featured among others, Sting, David Gilmour, Herbie Hancock and Grace Jones, but that band never toured, and he did not participate in its promotion. Taylor picked up 2 coveted U.S Grammy awards during this period. He played a one-off show with Duran Duran at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia which reached a global audience of 2 billion people. At the end of 1985 after the band had achieved a transatlantic no. 1 record with the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill" he retired to the English countryside with his wife. He then fathered three children, two sons and one daughter, James, Ellea and Elliott.

In 1994 while visiting a friend in Paris, he temporarily joined Duran Duran to play drums on two tracks for the covers album Thank You, later appearing in the video for `Perfect Day` and on the band`s `Top of the Pops` performance of the song.

In 1997, Taylor began flirting with the music industry again. He briefly formed the electro/dance band Freebass, which produced a single, "Love is Like Oxygen," on underground dance label Cleveland City Records and was placed in the top ten of the music week U.K dance chart. Taylor also released electro house vinyl with Freebass member Jake Roberts under the name `Funkface` - `Lost This Feeling` and `Shine` on Taylors own label Rt Music.

In 2001, Taylor rejoined Duran Duran, as all five of the original members reunited to record new material and perform as a quintet again. This culminated in 5 sold out nights at Wembley Arena, playing Madison Square Garden again and signing with Epic Records in New York. The band delivered a worldwide hit single `Reach up for the Sunrise` and million selling album Astronaut which heavily featured the electro-funk rhythms of the newly reunited Roger and John Taylor.

The `Astronaut` tour lasted for more than 2 years with sold out shows all around the globe. The band also picked

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