Roger Taylor Facts

Roger was a pretty smart child. He realized that if he were in a band, he might make some money!

He left Truro School with seven O levels- in English language, English literature, biology, physics, chemistry, French and math, and three A levels in biology, chemistry and physics. Roger was an ubersmart child!

When he bought his first Range Rover he claimed "You can park them on a sixpence." He had to be towed out of a ditch. His Ferrari burst into flames on his way to the south of France, and his Aston Martin also burst into flames. The first car he ever got practically disintegrated just two days after he bought it. He doesn't actually count that one in the list of cars he's owned.

He has lived in Guildford Surrey England since the 1974 video shoots for “We Will Rock You” and “Spread Your Wings” which were filmed in his backyard. At the time, the people he bought the house from were still living there.

As you may or may not know, Roger left Dominique Beyrand for Debbie Leng (also known as “flake girl”) in the 80’s. If Roger never formed The Cross, he would’ve (probably) never met Debbie, since they met at a The Cross photo shoot.

Apparently he is 5’ 10.5” tall

He was arrested in 1983.

He was shot with a bee-bee gun when he was a child.

Roger was very frail as a child, and would come off the rugby field white and shivering, which his friends found amusing (who wouldn’t?)

Apparently he didn’t learn to swim until he was 22. It was said that he had a fear of drowning.

His Ferrari’s engine caught fire whilst in France in 1978

His father was known as eccentric for doing things when he was upset, such as walking the cliffs and riding his motorcycle in the garden.

He grew a beard in 1969/1970 because people on the streets kept mistaking him for a woman.

A few days after his Ferrari caught fire, he & a couple of friends set off on a boat of the shore of France. The boat stalled and they were stranded for 3 hours until they were towed back to the coast.

During the early 1970’s, the band was up in Liverpool one night, and were walking down the street in their fancy 70’s clothes. Let’s just say people didn’t dress like that at the time. They came across a bunch of gang members who threatened to beat them up, and Roger quickly flashed his student card and told them it was judo license and by law he was permitted to beat them up for self-defense. The gang members backed off.

Roger & Crystal were fed up with a female journalist, so they decided to drown her. (they were drunk) They got to the pool, but it was locked, so they shook the doors, shattered the glass in them, and ran off.

Whilst in South America, Roger, John & Crystal decided to rent a car and drive to a town some 100 miles away. John was smarter and took a limo, but Roger & Crystal weren’t. The car eventually broke down on them, and a huge rainstorm developed and, to top it all of, the car had no top. A mudslide occurred nearby and all the rain on the ground turned brown from the mud. Roger & Crystal also turned brown when a transport truck passed the and splashed the dirty water all over them and their car. They managed to make it to their destination, and after hurling some ‘colourful language’ at the rent-a-car company, they didn’t have to pay for their car.

He wanted to put giant stone lion statues at the entrance of his Surrey property, but the local authorities said no. Instead, he put of hundreds of glow-in-the-dark gnomes.

He was so bent on have “I’m in Love with My Car” as the B-side of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, that he locked himself in a cupboard until Freddie agreed.

When he was in good mood, he often added a nice graphic version of the word 'Queen‘ when he autographed things 

He was welcomed into the world by Queen Elizabeth. Apparently she was there for a grand opening of the new maternity wing or something.

In 1989 Roger had a brilliant party to celebrate his 40th birthday. The invitation said "rock til you drop" and it was a "schooldays" theme party and all the 1000 guests had to dress up appropriately. Roger had hired two HUGE searchlight spotlights for the evening, to scan the sky over the house. He had to obtain special permission from the British Aviation Authority to use them (to ensure any aircraft didn't think they were landing lights or whatever!). They roved back and forth across the clear sky - and caused absolute chaos! People living nearby, and anywhere up to about 25 miles away, could see them sweeping the sky, and thought they were Unidentified Flying Objects. People were driving towards the lights from right across Surrey and Hampshire to see if aliens were landing! The police in the county were inundated with calls about the mysterious lights, and cars were pulling up on the busy road that runs past Roger's property and their occupants were standing on the verges looking upwards! The event even made the front page of the next days newspapers! But it was certainly a good party!
We all know that he's had a beard in recent years, but he also grew a beard in 1969/1970 because people out on the street kept mistaking him for a woman. Before a Queen gig in the mid-1970's, Roger threw a temper tantrum backstage and slammed his foot into a wall. After the gig he had to be taken to the hospital for x-rays. (According to Sazerac, Rog's monitor failed and he couldn't hear what he played or sung, which is why he threw the fit). Roger quit smoking around 1987 because his then-girlfriend Dominique had pneumonia.

He has 2 kids with Dominique Beyrand: Felix Luther (born May 22, 1980) & Rory Eleanor (born May 29, 1986) and 3 kids with Debbie Leng: Rufus Tiger (born March 8, 1991), Tiger Lily (born October 10, 1994), & Lola Daisy May (born April 9, 2000)

                                                                                                                              


At 16, Roger crashed his group's van into a fish truck in thick foggy conditions. One of his friends was seriously hurt. The matter wasn't resolved for several years. Queen was already formed by that time.

The Early Years: By Mark Hodkin: "...The party...was traveling along the A30 to a booking at Dobwalls Village Hall, just a mile or so outside Liskeard. They passed through the village of Indian Queens and ran into fog and driving rain on Goss Moor where the road is picked put through marshland and cotton grass. There was suddenly a great collision and the van somersaulted and landed on its roof. "I remember the van turning over , it seemed to happen in slow motion," said Rick Penrose. "There was a deadly silence and then the sound of metal scraping on the road as we slide along".

They had crashed into a fish van left parked without any lights on, only half on the pavement. Roger was flung through the wind-screen but miraculously unhurt. Michael Dudley suffered a broken hand nose, Marian Little a cut chest, and Valerie Burrows internal stomach injuries. "I was covered in glass," said Rick Penrose. "I looked quiet a mess. They had to use tweezers to get the glass out of me. For months this glass kept coming out of my skin. If I rubbed my leg I would cut myself because the glass was still underneath it."...

...Although Roger Taylor had no physical injury, he suffered psychologically for some time afterwards. Everyone including Dorothy Gill-Carey, absolved him of any guilt but he was obviously distraught, though he mainly kept it to himself. "We were younger then and able to bounce back from that sort of thing," said Rick. "We just decided to get on with it, it was no one's fault." Roger's father, Michael Taylor, reportedly spent the night of the accident walking the cliffs, something he did often when the family was beset by troubles..
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