Queen drummer Roger Taylor announces solo tour of UK in 2021

British musician Roger Taylor will tour the UK this October to promote his sixth solo album, Outsider. Unfortunately, no Irish dates were announced for Dublin or Belfast.

The tour begins on the 2nd of October in Newcastle’s O2 Academy and will finish at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on the 22nd of October. The Queen drummer will play songs taken from his forthcoming album as well as the veteran band's classic hits on the 14-date tour.

Pre-sale tickets are available from 10am next Tuesday (June 8th). Fans who pre-order Outsider through the drummer’s website at 4pm on Monday (June 7th) will get early access to presale tickets.

The tour will mark Taylor’s first live performances without the rest of Queen in two decades.

“For some time now, we’ve all just been trying to get by. Now, it’s back to the basics, myself and some great musical pals getting back out there to play some rock,” Taylor said of the news.

“Obviously we’ll include some of the Queen classic catalogue, and some of my earlier solo work, but we’ll also be introducing them to some of the new stuff. So we hope folks are going to come on down.”

Taylor will be joined by Queen + Adam Lambert keyboard player, Spike Edney, Tyler Warren as supporting drummer, Jason Falloon on guitar and Goldfrapp duo Angie Pollock and Charlie Jones on keyboard and bass respectively.

Outsider is Taylor’s follow up to his last solo album, Fun On Earth which was released in 2013. Most of the album was recorded during lockdown after a “spurt of creativity” for the ‘Radio Ga Ga’ hit-maker.

Taylor says the album is dedicated to “all the outsiders, those who feel left on the sidelines”. The album arrived somewhat unexpectedly for him:

“I’ve had a bit of a creative spurt and suddenly found myself with an album, which was lovely. It was a surprise!” he said. “I just found myself in the studio and they came out one after the other. It was a pleasure really.”

The announcement comes after Queen + Adam Lambert's 2021 tour was postponed until next year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"This is my modest tour, I just want it to be lots of fun, very good musically, and I want everybody to enjoy it. I'm really looking forward to it."

Queen legend Roger Taylor announces 2021 UK solo tour and brand new album 'Outsider'! 🥁
More here 👇https://t.co/9jM785RBFc pic.twitter.com/QowdQAS6lD

— Queen (@QueenWillRock) June 1, 2021