Rufus Tiger Taylor (born 8 March 1991) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band The Darkness since May 2015, and as a touring drummer for the

Queen + Adam Lambert Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * ...

stage shows. He is the son of

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

drummer Roger Taylor.

Early life

Taylor was born on 8 March 1991 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, to

drummer Roger Taylor and his longtime girlfriend Deborah Leng. According to his father, Rufus' middle name "Tiger" was chosen by Queen lead singer

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

. Taylor claims that growing up with drums made him decide that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, as he was uninterested academically, dropping out of school at the age of 16 in favour of a ski instruction course with Warren Smith Ski Academy.

Career

Taylor's first notable appearance was the 2008 ''

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

'', where he played drums for

Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at La ...

and his father Roger Taylor's

partner

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

to an audience including Charles III, then-Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall. In 2009, he played with Queen touring musician

Spike Edney Philip "Spike" Edney (born 11 December 1951) is an English musician who has performed with a number of bands since the 1970s, most notably with Queen (band), Queen in their live concerts since 1984. Career Queen Edney's association with Quee ...

as part of his SAS (Spike's All-Stars) band. He toured with the Queen musical stage show, ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...

'', and worked again alongside Brian May as well as his father with Kerry Ellis on her album ''

Anthems An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

'', contributing some drum tracks. In 2011, Taylor performed alongside his father, when he joined the

collaboration as a touring musician, providing

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

for the stage show. Some of his notable moments on the tour were his "drum battles" with his father, and taking over as lead drummer on Queen classics such as "

Tie Your Mother Down "Tie Your Mother Down" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead guitarist Brian May. It is the opening track and the second single from their 1976 album '' A Day at the Races''. On its original release as a single in 1977 the ...

", or on "

A Kind of Magic ''A Kind of Magic'' is the twelfth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 2 June 1986 by EMI Records in the UK and by Capitol Records in the US. It is based on the soundtrack to the film '' Highlander'', directed by Russell M ...

" while his father left the kit to provide lead vocals. Taylor has joined the band on both of their world tours, and remains a mainstay of their live show. In May 2015, following the departure of Emily Dolan Davies, Taylor became the drummer for English rock band The Darkness, with guitarist

Dan Hawkins Dan, Danny or Daniel Hawkins may refer to: * Dan Hawkins (American football) (born 1960), American football coach and former player and sportscaster * Daniel Hawkins (politician) (born 1960), American politician in the Kansas House of Representat ...

confirming the news on a UK radio show. He has drummed on the Darkness albums ''

Pinewood Smile ''Pinewood Smile'' is the fifth studio album released by British hard rock band The Darkness. Produced by Adrian Bushby, the album was released on 6 October 2017 and is the first album by the band to be released by Cooking Vinyl. It is also th ...

'' (2017), '' Easter Is Cancelled'' (2019) and '' Motorheart'' (2021).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Rufus Tiger 1991 births Living people English rock drummers Musicians from London Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) 21st-century English drummers Queen + Adam Lambert members The Darkness (band) members