Today marks a staggering 40 years since Queen released their classic A Night At The Opera album.
To mark the occasion we have looked back at some of Rhythm's many interviews with drummer Roger Taylor, dug a couple of gems out of the archives to see what he had to say back in the day.
When Roger Taylor spoke to Rhythm in 1990, Queen were still a band with its classic line-up of Roger, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deacon. However, Roger revealed he was fed up with being off tour. He admitted he wanted to get back on the road, but this time trying something new. "I fancied being a lead singer," He explained. "I've always done a lot of vocals but obviously Freddie is the lead singer. I was just fed up with bashing my brains out at the back and singing all the time as well." His answer to this? His own band, "The Cross." A new band, a new start, a new country.
"We're actually based in Germany because over there people judge you on merit, they don't pre-judge you." It was obvious that although 'The Cross' was a complete contrast to the music of Queen, Taylor was committed to the band and was determined to stay professional.
By 2002, and now 11 years after the death of Queen's frontman Freddie Mercury, the focus for Rhythm's interview with Roger - still of course a popular drummer with Rhythm's readers - was very much on looking back at some of Queen's career highlights. He recalled Rock In Rio, Live Aid and Party At The Palace and also spoke about the new Queen musical We Will Rock You.
"I think it's a great night out," he told us. "It's sort of like adult panto with great music. Every night there's a fantastic ovation at the end and people come out buzzing. It got the worst reviews I've ever seen, but they're basically missing the point."
And the fact that it's still a hit musical in its 10th year proves he was right.
Roger also hinted about a possible Queen reunion for the years to come, revealing that he had been working very well with Brian May: "We might think of doing something - the dinosaurs might creep out of their cage…" He hinted that his and Brian's shows had been going down well with audiences. "We did a show in Amsterdam - 150,000 people turned up!" Certainly a taste of what is to come for the UK - Queen would reform in 2005 with Free's Paul Rodgers on vocals.
