‘I’ve never tried to sound like him’: Queen’s Roger Taylor on comparisons with Rod Stewart

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More than one fan has connected the sound of Roger Taylor’s more mature vocals on his forthcoming solo album with that of Rod Stewart. Now, the long-time Queen member has addressed the comparison.

“Well, it’s certainly not intentional,” he says, chuckling, in this BBC1 clip. “I’ve known him for many years, but I’ve never tried to sound like him. I guess it’s a certain raspiness in the voice — which is probably due to all sorts of bad habits.”

The change, quite striking for anyone familiar with Taylor’s impossibly stratospheric work on classic Queen cuts like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” is all the more notable because of the lapse since the drumming singer-songwriter’s last original recording.

Taylor worked on the forthcoming Fun on Earth for some five years. He hasn’t issued a solo effort since 1998’s Electric Fire, and hadn’t take a lead vocal with Queen since the same period — singing on “Let Me Live” (from 1995’s Made in Heaven) and “No-One But You” (a 1997 single).

Fun on Earth, Taylor’s fifth album away from Queen, is set for release on November 11, 2013.

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