Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer)

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For other persons named Roger Taylor, see Roger Taylor (disambiguation).

Roger Andrew Taylor
Background information
Born	April 26, 1960 [Castle Bromwich], England
Instrument(s)	Drums
Associated acts	Duran Duran Arcadia Freebass Scent Organs

Roger Andrew Taylor (born April 26, 1960 in Castle Bromwich, 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. He cites Paul Thompson of Roxy Music, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Tony Thompson of Chic as his key influences. He played with several school and local club bands and after being inspired by the punk bands playing at Barbarallas 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 bands 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 amongst others, Sting, Dave Gilmour, Herbie Hancock and Grace Jones, but that band never toured, and he did not participate in its promotion. 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 trans-atlantic no. 1 record with the James Bond theme 'A View to a Kill' he retired to the English countryside with his wife. He then fathers three children, two sons and one daughter. James, Ellea and Elliott.

Taylor did not leave home for some years and becomes the first officially 'agoraphobic' rock star.

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 (Duran Duran 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 began flirting with the music industry again. He briefly formed the 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.

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 culminates in 5 sold out nights at Wembley Arena, playing Madison Square Garden again and signing with Epic Records in New York . The band deliver worldwide hit record 'Reach up for the Sunrise' and million selling album 'Astronaut'. The 'Astronaut' tour lasted for more than 2 years with sold out shows all around the globe. The band also picked up several prestigious 'achievement' awards from Q magazine, MTV and a Brit award.

In 2002, Taylor appeared on the "Twelve Drummers Drumming" Christmas card in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" set sold at Woolworths to raise money for the NSPCC – alongside the "other" Roger Taylor, the drummer for Queen.

He started D.J. residence at the Met Bar London playing mix of House and Hip Hop.

In 2004 Taylor and Giovanna Cantone announced their separation after 19 years of marriage. In the same year he was named 5th most eligible bachelor in U.K high society magazine Tatler alongside Prince William.

In 2005 he started work on the second Duran Duran album for Epic Records. He was named (along with John Taylor) as one of the greatest musicians of all time in the Ubersonik.com top 100.

In 2006 Timbaland and Justin Timberlake started work with Duran Duran on several tracks for a new album set for release in 2007.

In April 2007, Roger announced on Duran Duran's official website that he would be getting married to his Peruvian girlfriend Gisella this year . They met in Washington D.C where her father was based as an international diplomat and she was working at The World Bank. Roger and Gisella were married May 12, 2007.