Roger Taylor on RMF Extra

Marta Grzywacz, RMF FM: While on my way here, I realised that you’ve been performing on stage for 40-something years, 20 years with Freddie and 20 years without him. How would you describe those periods of time?

Roger Taylor: That’s an interesting and very difficult question. The first 20 years were like a roller coaster. Incredible. It was all work, work, work. We travelled the world, building our band brand. And suddenly when we lost Freddie, we experienced a huge disaster. However, life has been good to us, our music is still popular, which is incredible and it still amazes me. This is, of course, a cause of great happiness for both me and Brian. But many things have changed. We have changed but Queen lives on. It’s amazing but we constantly feel Freddie’s presence, in spirit and within the music. And we constantly miss him. But I was surprised myself when I realised that we’ve managed to survive as many years with him as without him. Back when he got sick, we were completely helpless. We couldn’t halt the development of his illness. Today, with the development of medicine it would probably have been different. But then, it was a hard time for us.

After all these years together, are you still friends with Brian?

Of course, which you can easily see. Obviously, we argue, we always argue but we’re like brothers to each other. And the fact that we argue with each other? Well, that’s the way it’s always been and still is. And when we argue we’re both convinced we are right.

And so for 40 years...

Yes, longer than most marriages.

While on that subject – are you happy in your private life?

Yes, I consider myself lucky. I have a wonderful life and I’d like it to continue that way. I’ve managed to stay healthy, which isn’t that easy when you live a rock and roll life.

How did you do it?

I don’t know.


Maybe you didn’t drink too much wine.

Maybe I was tough. But life has been very kind to me.

And you have a happy family life?

Yes, I have five children that I love very much. One of them is a doctor, one is a drummer and the others are still in school.

You wanted to be a doctor yourself once...

I was going to be a dentist but I preferred playing in a rock band. The medical studies were just a way of getting to London, in reality I never wanted to be a dentist.

However, in the end you still finished biology.

Yes, at a university in London. During that time we were already working on our first album and I was only interested in music. But I didn’t want to waste the years I had spent at university.

But that biology didn’t really prove useful to you in life...

Not at work. But the knowledge of the human body, plants and animals is very useful.

Apart from your son, who is a drummer, none of your other children have followed your footsteps?

No, however, my son Rufus plays with us, on the drums and percussion. Brian is his fan because Rufus really is a great drummer.

And now you also have a great vocalist.

That is true. Adam is one of the best vocalists I have ever seen. He will be good in our repertoire. He’s very theatrical, has an incredible vocal range, great charisma and presentation. He has the chance of becoming a great star.

Do you think you’ll just play a few shows together and that will be it, or will you stick together for longer?

I really don’t know. This is a very joyous experiment for us, which in my opinion will prove to work out excellently. We will know more when we’re done with this tour but Queen is us, Brian and I. Having someone else join us permanently would be a mistake.



Original article at http://www.rmfon.pl/aktualnosci/rmf-extra-14695.html
Translated by: @hellonhighheels

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