Roger Taylor Tallks About His New Album and Forthcoming Swansea Date

Legendary Queen songwriter, drummer and singer ROGER TAYLOR is hitting the road with a new tour and album for autumn 2026.

The VIOLENCE INSANE IN A BEAUTIFUL WORLD tour will see Roger visit six venues in Newcastle, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, London and Swansea, performing live with his extraordinary band.

Fans can secure their copy of the album and remaining tickets now HERE.

For more than 50 years, Roger Taylor has been a driving force behind one of the most successful bands in history.

Check out our Ten Roger Taylor facts at the bottom of this page.

With Queen, he has sold more than 300 million albums, leaving his indelible musical and vocal stamp on such iconic songs as Bohemian Rhapsody, Under Pressure and Another One Bites The Dust, as well as writing the worldwide hits Radio Gaga, A Kind Of Magic, These Are The Days Of Our Lives and co-writing countless more.

VIOLENCE INSANE IN A BEAUTIFUL WORLD (released September 18th on Columbia) is Roger’s seventh album in a solo career stretching back to 1977 and is his first since 2021’s critically and fan-acclaimed OUTSIDER.

Now ahead of the accompanying tour Roger joked…..

“I mean, do people want to see me live? I would hope some would.

I thought I’d put a toe in the water, and so we’re going to do this handful of dates in some special venues. You know, I don’t want to play clubs. I certainly won’t be playing arenas.”

The new music comes together under an overarching theme, countering the current state of world affairs, as Roger explains…..

“It’s in the title really: What a beautiful world we live in, don’t fuck it up!

There seems to be all this insanity at the moment. The violence in the world seems to be as bad as it ever was at any point, and certainly in my lifetime. It’s just horrific, a lot of insane violence, these awful wars and hatred born of different religions.”

But he insists the tone of the album and tour are hopeful…..

“It’s a beautiful world, you know, and kindness is very important, but I think it seems to be forgotten quite a lot.

I would like to tell you there was a moment of inspiration that sparked the album, but I honestly can’t. I had a couple of things in mind, so I came into my studio – I love being in here, surrounded by my instruments – with Josh Macrae my co-producer and engineer and did them. Over a period of time it accumulated and suddenly it seemed to complete itself.

I am really pleased with the album, the newer stuff that we’ve done, especially with the choir. I am very excited about that.”

‘The choir’ is The Ndlovu Youth Choir from Limpopo, South Africa, who feature on the album’s first single, released last month [JUNE] COME ON SUMMER (IT’S PARTY TIME).

Roger said….

“I became aware of this amazing South African choir, who sing in Zulu, they are just wonderful. They did the most incredible cover version of Bohemian Rhapsody, and it’s fabulous. I couldn’t believe it when I heard it.

So, we had the bright idea of asking them to sing on some of the album tracks, which they did, and I think it’s transformed those songs. It gives them a whole new dimension. I’m really thrilled with their work on that.”

With writing, singing and producing the new album, does Roger now think of himself as a songwriter more than a drummer?

“Songwriting is so hit and miss. Certain old ones I like, like Laugh Or Cry on the first album or Strange Frontier on the second, Tenement Funster with Queen too. In the 80s, I was a bit more prolific; Radio Ga Ga was quite a breakthrough for me, A Kind Of Magic and These Are The Days Of Our Lives. 

Doing stuff on your own is very very very different. As a band, as a unit, we were very good and tight, John, Freddie and myself, with Fred on piano and Brian would often add after.

But when you’re doing solo stuff you don’t have much of that because you’ve got to do it all yourself, so it’s a very different technique involved.

I still love playing the drums. Well. I’m obviously a bit older now, and I couldn’t thrash them like my son Rufus Tiger does; he’s one hell of a drummer!”

Even with a successful solo catalogue behind him, Taylor still fondly reminisces about the writing process and studio time with his Queen bandmates.

“With a band, you sometimes get friction. It was fantastic when it worked, you know, although in the old days we used to do so many takes but it had to be just right.

You couldn’t go back and fix stuff like you can now. You had to get the perfect take, and it was tricky; a lot of patience was involved.”

But that patience has been repaid countless times over now, as the legacy of Queen lives on with fans old and new still keen to follow the band’s music.

“I think the strength of some of the Queen songs gave us longevity. It’s lovely to think that certain age groups hold our band – and all that we still do together and separately – in affection.

It’s lovely to think that you might have affected people’s lives in a good way, brought them a little bit of joy or something like that. I mean, that really is a lovely feeling. I hope we did and do give a lot of people a lot of pleasure.”

You can secure a copy of the album and remaining tour tickets, including his date at Swansea Arena on Tuesday 29th September – HERE

Here are 10 interesting Roger Taylor facts that go beyond the usual biography and would work well as a sidebar or breakout box alongside your interview.

10 Roger Taylor Facts You May Not Know

1. He originally wanted to be a dentist Before Queen became his full-time career, Roger studied dentistry before switching to biology at university. Music eventually proved too tempting to resist.
2. He’s one of Queen’s most successful songwriters While Freddie Mercury often gets the headlines, Roger wrote several of Queen’s biggest hits, including Radio Ga Ga, A Kind of Magic and These Are the Days of Our Lives.
3. His son accidentally inspired ‘Radio Ga Ga’ The title came after his young son, Felix, mispronounced the word “radio” as “radio ga ga”. Roger transformed the childhood phrase into one of Queen’s biggest worldwide hits.
4. He was the first member of Queen to release a solo album In 1981, Roger released Fun in Space, playing almost every instrument himself and proving he was far more than “just the drummer.”
5. He has one of rock’s most recognisable high voices Those soaring high harmonies on many Queen songs aren’t Freddie Mercury—they’re Roger. His distinctive falsetto became an essential part of Queen’s trademark vocal sound.
6. He met the future Queen Elizabeth II as a newborn Roger was born in a newly opened maternity unit in King’s Lynn that had just been visited by Princess Elizabeth. His mother and baby Roger were among those introduced to the future monarch.
7. He was awarded an OBE In 2020, Roger received an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to music, recognising more than five decades of influence on British rock.
8. He helped create the hit musical We Will Rock You Roger and Brian May worked closely on developing the stage musical, which became one of London’s longest-running West End productions and has since toured around the world.
9. He’s passionate about discovering new talent Roger was instrumental in creating The Queen Extravaganza, an officially sanctioned touring production designed to celebrate Queen’s music while giving talented musicians an international platform.
10. He’s still writing and recording now (in his seventies) More than 50 years after Queen formed, Roger continues to write, record, tour and release solo music, proving his creativity shows no sign of slowing down.