Queen drummer and vocalist, Roger Taylor has been made an OBE in the New Year Honours list. The Norfolk drummer has, been awarded an OBE for his services to music, campaigned for the awareness of Aids, launched a musical featuring Queen’s greatest hits, and is one of the few living people to appear on a Royal Mail stamp.
The list rewards a number of public figures from the worlds of art and sport, but it also rewards people who give back to their communities. This New Year Honours list was drawn up and approved during Theresa May’s premiership and sees rewards going to a line-up of well-known figures, but 72% of the 1,097 to be recognised were people who work in their communities.
Queen drummer Roger Taylor has been awarded an OBE for services to music #NewYearHonours pic.twitter.com/lXFbAZtVB0
— Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) December 27, 2019
Taylor’s friend and Queen guitarist, Brain May took to Instagram to congratulate his lifelong friend and bandmate on his OBE. Taking to Instagram, May said: “Congratulations Rog OBE !!! What does OBE mean ? Well, for all you non-Brits, let me explain. The letters stand for Order of the British Empire – a traditional honour presented to people who have achieved worthy things in the eyes of … well, the British Monarchy, under advice.
“It’s the beginning of a whole spectrum of honours. Next one up is the MBE – Member of the British Empire – and above that is the CBE – Commander of the British Empire. The next level of the game is a KBE – a Knighthood – which entitles the recipient to be known as Sir.”
The 72-year-old guitarist added: “I received a CBE some years ago. It doesn’t change your life very much apart from giving you some letters to put after your name in correspondence! The award which really moves you to a different place in Society is when they make you a LORD – which entitles you (or requires you) to sit in the a House of Lords, participating in the passing of British laws and policies.
“So there ya go ! Who decides these things? Well, it’s all done quietly behind closed doors by a small committee – but most awards have been lobbied for, by friends and colleagues who feel the person deserves recognition!!!”
The 70-year-old multi-instrumentalist, played drums in Smile, the precursor to Queen which was founded by Brian May, and helped write Queen’s number one songs ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Innuendo’ and ‘Under Pressure’, as well as contributing to major hits such as ‘Radio Ga Ga’ and ‘A Kind Of Magic’.
In 1970, the same year Smile was revamped as Queen, Taylor turned down the chance to become drummer for Genesis, which gave way for Phil Collins to join instead. He was the first Queen member to go solo with his 1977 song ‘I Wanna Testify’, before releasing a string of albums.
Taylor is one of the only few living people to appear on a Royal Mail stamp, which caused quite the controversy in 1999. He was visible playing drums behind frontman Freddie Mercury in an image of the pair on stage, which was issued as part of a Great Britons series. At that point, it was understood that only members of the Royal Family were allowed to appear on stamps while still living.
Following Mercury’s death in 1991 of bronchial pneumonia, from the result of Aids, at the age of 45, Taylor began to promote awareness of the disease worldwide. In 2019 it was announced that he would help oversee the newly established Music Walk Of Fame in London’s Camden Town. Queen were famously depicted in last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody biopic, which set cinema box office records.
Meanwhile, Queen have launched a new app which allows fans to sing like Freddie Mercury. The app, entitled FreddieMeter, allow fans to choose one of four songs – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, ‘Somebody to Love’ or ‘We Are the Champions’ – and challenge friends. The app then shows users how closely their voice matches the late singer’s legendary range by analysing pitch, timbre, and melody to assign them a score from 0 to 100.
Can anyone match @Freddie_Mercury’s legendary voice? Queen & @YouTubeMusic are challenging fans to find out! Take on the #FreddieChallenge now → https://t.co/UGNRz9e7TX In support of @The_MPT you can donate here: https://t.co/P0E5Ub5Y8v pic.twitter.com/NDtu56Ofki — Queen (@QueenWillRock) November 14, 2019
