Roger Taylor announces UK Solo Tour and New Album “Outsider”

 

 

Will I be playing Queen songs too? Absolutely!” ROGER TAYLOR

 

June 1st, 2021 

 

Rock icon Roger Taylor made the surprise announcement today that he will play a UK solo tour this Autumn, introducing brand new material and revisiting some of his very own Queen classics. 

 

With the pandemic putting Queen + Adam Lambert’s epic UK and European tour on pause until 2022, the acclaimed drummer has decided to hit the road for a set of intimate shows. The upcoming concerts will showcase his distinctive percussive, vocal and songwriting talents that have been integral to Queen’s live and recorded output since 1970. 

 

Marking his first live performances outside Queen in over two decades, Taylor will tour the UK across October playing 14 shows that will coincide with the release of his latest solo album Outsider on October 1st. 

 

As the songwriter of many of Queen’s biggest hits and much-loved tracks including A Kind of Magic, Radio Ga Ga, I’m In Love With My Car, Sheer Heart Attack and These Are the Days of Our Lives, while also being one of rock’s most distinctive vocalists, Taylor promises a solo tour with an enthusiastic foray into Queen and his own classic catalogues, while also including new songs written in lockdown that feature on the multi-instrumentalist’s new Outsider album.

 

 

Taylor’s 2021 tour will open at Newcastle O2 Academy, Saturday October 2, followed by dates across the UK that conclude at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Friday October 22.

 

The rock legend will perform with a specially assembled band for the tour made up of Queen + Adam Lambert’s keyboardist Spike Edney and supporting drummer Tyler Warren, plus guitarist Jason Falloon and Goldfrapp live players keyboardist Angie Pollock and bassist Charlie Jones.

 

Outsider is Taylor’s first album of new material since 2013’s Fun On Earth. Over the last decade, the drummer has also released the occasional solo track reflecting on his worldview and observations in songs like Journey’s End, Gangsters Are Running This World. His most recent was Isolation, which was written and recorded in response to the first lockdown last year. 

 

With much of Outsider recorded during lockdown, this new album finds Taylor in reflective mood. Across the record he conveys a palpable sense of seclusion, concerns over the passing of time, and tellingly, dedicates it “to all the outsiders, those who feel left on the sidelines”.

 

On recording the Outsider album after Isolation Taylor says: “I’ve had a bit of a creative spurt and suddenly found myself with an album, which was lovely. It was a surprise!

 

“I just found myself in the studio and they came out one after the other. It was a pleasure really.” 

 

A highly personal project, Outsider’s instrumentation is almost entirely performed by Taylor, with his largely restrained vocals matching the album’s contemplative ambience. But Taylor does cut loose along the way with a foray into some hard-riffing blues-rock as well as an adrenalin charged BIG surprise retread of a classic 1965 novelty song, which is exactly the fun on earth we need in these challenging times. 

 

 

 

Sat 2 October – NEWCASTLE, O2 Academy 

 

Sun 3 October – MANCHESTER, Academy 

 

Tue 5 October – YORK, Barbican

 

Wed 6 October – CARDIFF, St. David’s Hall 

 

Fri 8 October – LIVERPOOL, O2 Academy 

 

Sat 9 October – NORWICH, University East Anglia (UEA) 

 

Mon 11 October – BATH, Forum 

 

Tue 12 October – BOURNEMOUTH, O2 Academy 

 

Thu 14 October – PLYMOUTH, Pavilions 

 

Fri 15 October – NOTTINGHAM, Rock City

 

Sun 17 October – BEXHILL, De La Warr Pavilion

 

Tue 19 October – GUILFORD, G Live 

 

Wed 20 October – COVENTRY, HMV Empire

 

Fri 22 October – LONDON, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire