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 VIOLENCE INSANE IN A BEAUTIFUL WORLD and remaining tickets now via rogertaylor.live
For more than 50 years, Roger Taylor has been a driving force behind one of the most successful bands in history.
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 18 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, he jokes: “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,” he explains. “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,” he adds. “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,” Roger explains. “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.”
Secure a copy of the album and remaining tour tickets HERE