Queen‘s Roger Taylor has announced plans for a new album and UK tour in 2026 – check out all the details below.
‘Violence Insane In A Beautiful World’ is the drummer’s seventh solo LP and his first since his 2021 studio effort ‘Outsider’. It is set to land on September 18 via Columbia. You can pre-order it here.
Taylor has also shared the first single from the record ‘Come On Summer (It’s Party Time)’ featuring The Ndlovu Youth Choir from Limpopo, South Africa, who first came to prominence for their Zulu-language translation of Queen’s classic hit ‘Bohemian Rhapsody. You can listen to it below.
The legendary sticksman is also set to hit the road for a short UK tour which kicks off in September at Newcastle O2 City Hall. Further stops include London’s Roundhouse and Swansea Building City Arena.
Tickets go on general sale at 10am BST on Wednesday, June 17 and can be purchased here. Before that fans who pre-order the album from today (June 10) until 11.59pm BST this Saturday (June 13) will receive a code for a pre-sale on Monday (June 15) from 10 am BST here. You can the full list of tour dates below.
While not a concept record, ‘Violence Insane In A Beautiful World’ does have an overarching theme, according to Taylor.
“There is a theme, you know, it’s in the title really, what a beautiful world we live in, don’t fuck it up. There seems to be all this insanity at the moment. The violence in the world seems to be as bad as it ever was, at any point, and certainly in my lifetime,” he said.
“It’s just horrific, a lot of insane violence. And we do seem to be fucking up the world, plastics in the sea, you know, and all these awful wars everywhere and hatred born of different religions.”
He added: “It’s a beautiful world, you know. And kindness is very important, I think, it seems to be forgotten quite a lot. So, that is basically the sort of underlying theme.”
Produced, sang and performed by Taylor, the LP also features long-time collaborator Joshua J.Macrae, members of his live band and The Ndlovu Youth Choir.
The album is available in a variety of formats including black, Earth Blue vinyl and a picture disc along with a standard CD.
The full tracklisting for ‘Violence Insane In A Beautiful World’ is as follows:
‘A Beautiful World – Feat. The Ndlovu Youth Choir’
‘Violence Insane’
‘What Really Matters’
‘Don’t Photograph Food’
‘I See You Now’
‘Chump’
‘Spit In His Eye’
‘Jealous Guy’
‘Come On Summer (It’s Party Time)’ – feat. The Ndlovu Youth Choir
‘A Great Big Beautiful World (reprise)’ – feat. The Ndlovu Youth Choir
Elsewhere, Taylor previously teased new music from Queen – almost 30 years on from their latest album.
The legendary band posthumously released their 15th and final studio record, ‘Made In Heaven’, in 1995 following the death of frontman Freddie Mercury in 1991.
Roger Taylor’s UK tour dates are:
SEPTEMBER
21 – Newcastle O2 City Hall
22 – Edinburgh Usher Hall
24 – Birmingham The Alexandra
25 – Manchester Opera House
28 – London Roundhouse
29 – Swansea Building Society Arena