{"id":320545,"date":"2026-08-13T18:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/320545\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T18:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:16:09","slug":"roger-taylor-trump-is-a-tumour-on-the-back-of-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/320545\/","title":{"rendered":"Roger Taylor: \u201cTrump is a tumour on the back of America\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ve just been on a rally in France, to the Pyrenees,\u201d says Roger Taylor. \u201cI was driving a Mercedes-AMG convertible, but it was so bloody hot I couldn\u2019t have the top down.\u201d MOJO speaks to the esteemed Queen drummer as he relaxes near Cannes. His song I\u2019m In Love With My Car<\/a> climbed to number one as B-side pillion passenger to Bohemian Rhapsody<\/a> \u2013 and Roger clearly still adores automobiles. He\u2019s chatting on the back of his new solo album,\u00a0Violence Insane In A Beautiful World, a multifaceted mix of positivity, ire and a Zulu-language choir \u2013 plus a dream where Queen Elizabeth II listens to Bob Dylan<\/a>\u2019s Blood On The Tracks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The track A Beautiful World evokes the world\u2019s wonder but concludes, \u201cDon\u2019t fuck it up.\u201d Is that the essential plain-speaking Roger?<\/p>\n

I think so, yeah. It\u2019s a simple philosophy. It really is a beautiful world, so don\u2019t fuck it up, which we seem to be doing a lot of.<\/p>\n

This track features South Africa\u2019s Ndlovu Youth Choir, who you discovered via their 2025 Zulu-language version of Bohemian Rhapsody.<\/p>\n

I love them \u2013 incredible musicality. As soon as you hear them you just think, Africa! They sing so beautifully, with the clicking [the click consonants occurring in southern African languages], and certainly they raised the bar [with the album] in general. I think Freddie would\u2019ve loved the joyousness, because he was mad about gospel. He would\u2019ve loved this African version of that.<\/p>\n

The song Chump addresses \u201ca one-man calamity\u201d.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s about him, the orange man-baby. What a truly dreadful thing he is \u2013 a tumour on the back of America, enriching himself at the same time as completely undermining everything that America\u2019s supposed to stand for, the \u2018Land Of The Free\u2019. I can\u2019t think of words bad enough for him.<\/p>\n

You cover John Lennon<\/a>\u2019s Jealous Guy, which Roxy Music took to Number 1 after his death. Why now?<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think they [Roxy Music] really did it justice. I was on Jools Holland\u2019s show and he asked if I wanted to sing a song and that\u2019s what we came up with. I\u2019ve always absolutely loved that song \u2013 one of the great ballads, so heartfelt. It should be done straight, so I\u2019ve just done it with a piano.<\/p>\n

Which Queen track made the most difference to you personally?<\/p>\n

The obvious answer is Bohemian Rhapsody because it brought us to another level. One I enjoyed an awful lot was Under Pressure. I loved working with David Bowie<\/a>, because\u00a0\u2028he was\u2026 fantastic, so fascinating. It was started in Switzerland in our studio there and then we went over to New York and David and I, basically, finished it at the Power Station over a long weekend, in between watching Wimbledon. We mucked around in the studio \u2013 we used to cover Cream songs, just for fun. We did N.S.U. and I Feel Free. They\u2019re probably on tape somewhere.<\/p>\n

Your song I\u2019m In Love With My Car was the B-side of Bohemian Rhapsody. That meant mechanical royalties.<\/p>\n

I did believe in Bohemian Rhapsody. I thought it was an extraordinary song and I was just happy to get myself on the B-side. But that was the first considerable amount of money I had, because we weren\u2019t rich in those days. I was able to get rid of my mortgage, which was such a great thing to be able to do.<\/p>\n

You still love your car(s). But, in a save-the-world mode, do you ever echo Freddie on Fat Bottomed Girls and \u201cGet on your bikes and ride\u201d?<\/p>\n

(Laughs) I do have an e-bike but the roads are so bloody dangerous.<\/p>\n

Tell us something you\u2019ve never told an interviewer before.<\/p>\n

Touring with Mott The Hoople was very special for us, because they were great and we really got on. [Queen supported Mott in the UK and US in 1973 and 1974]. Every night we used to sing backing, unbeknownst to the audience, to All The Young Dudes<\/a>. After that touring [Mott frontman] Ian Hunter asked me over to his house and said he was thinking of starting a new band. It would have been Hunter Ronson Taylor. I was very flattered, but I just said, I\u2019m sorry, I love my band, so it never happened.<\/p>\n

Violence Insane In A Beautiful World is released on September 18 on Columbia.<\/p>\n

This interview features in the latest issue of MOJO. Starring: The Beatles! David Bowie! Johnny Marr! Joy Division! Wishbone Ash! Kate & Anna McGarrigle! Beastie Boys Mike D! Beck! Phoebe Bridgers! The Mary Wallopers and a more! More info and to order a copy for delivery wherever you are HERE<\/a>!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019ve just been on a rally in France, to the Pyrenees,\u201d says Roger Taylor. \u201cI was driving a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-320545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}