Drummer and songwriter Roger Taylor was born in the West Norfolk & Lynn Hospital, Exton's Road King's Lynn, Norfolk on July 26, 1949. In the mid-1960’s, Taylor met guitarist Brian May and along with Tim Staffell , they three formed the trio Smile. Smile had signed with Mercury Records in 1970 and released one single “Earth.” Staffell left the group and was replaced with his good friend Farrokh Bulsara as the lead singer. The new group becomes known as Queen and Farrokh Bulsara becomes known as Freddie Mercury. John Deacon then joined them on bass. Queen’s debut album was released in 1973 with the self titled Queen. Taylor is the third most credited songwriter for the band, and he is considered a prominent songwriter.
As a songwriter, Taylor contributed songs to Queen's albums from the very beginning, composing at least one track on every album, and often singing lead vocals on his own compositions. He wrote or co-wrote three UK number 1s ("These Are the Days of Our Lives", "Innuendo" and "Under Pressure") and contributed a further five major hits ("Radio Ga Ga", "A Kind of Magic", "Heaven for Everyone", "Breakthru", and "The Invisible Man". He is also commonly known to have been the main writer on the international top-ten hit "One Vision," although the track is credited to the whole band. He has collaborated with such artists as Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Phil Collins, Genesis, Jimmy Nail, Elton John, Gary Numan, Shakin' Stevens, Foo Fighters, Al Stewart, Steve Vai, Yoshiki, Cyndi Almouzni, and Bon Jovi. As a producer, he has produced albums by Virginia Wolf, Jimmy Nail and Magnum.
Taylor was also a key player in the creation of the mega-successful London musical We Will Rock You, a futuristic production inspired by the songs and creativity of Queen that opened in May, 2002. And in 2003, Taylor and May, along with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, put together South Africa's 46664 concert, a major musical event inspired by the resiliency of President Nelson Mandela that promoted HIV/AIDS awareness in Africa. Taylor made new musical contributions to the concert and supporting 46664 albums, as well with the tracks "Say It's Not True" and "Invincible Hope."
Taylor has also continued to work with new iterations of Queen, both via albums and live performance. The band released a concert album with George Michael, Five Live, in 1993. In the mid-2000s, Queen played to sold-out crowds in Europe with a new tour featuring Paul Rodgers, the one-time lead singer of rock group Bad Company. And in 2012, Queen played at the Olympics closing ceremony with singer Jessie J in London, England, and embarked on a mini-tour with American Idol finalist Adam Lambert.
