My elder brother and sister, Felix and Rory, have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Despite what might have been going on in his own life, he made sure me and my brothers and sisters got a proper childhood. Have all these people come to hear my dad play the drums? Bloody hell!ĭad has always been really good at keeping things normal. I knew he played music and I grew up with the sound of drums coming through the walls, but it wasn’t until he dragged me and my mate out on stage with him at a gig that it really hit me. I didn’t even know Dad was that famous until I was about 10.
He’s there because he’s a bloody good drummer.”
Queen would not have a waste of space on stage with us. That’s rubbish! This is Queen we’re talking about. Yeah, people automatically assume he’s only there because he’s my son. Looking across at him on stage makes me beam with pride. He’s our percussionist… the second drummer, helping to lighten my load. Rufus has got his own musical projects on the go and he also tours with Queen. I’ve seen a lot of spoilt rock brats, but, thank God, my lot aren’t like that. I’d like to think that, these days, we all get on and that all five of my kids have a strong set of moral values. People aren’t made of stone and things can be difficult at times, but we all have to find our own way through those difficulties. Unfortunately, Rufus’s mum and I split up almost 12 years ago. Rufus hated the idea, but I got his brother, Felix, to ring him and say: “Look, mate, you’re gonna get laid every night!” As if by magic, Rufus changed his mind. He said it was great for giving kids a bit of confidence. It was Damon Hill who suggested a ski-instructor’s course in Switzerland. Rufus and I had a talk about it, but I honestly didn’t know what to do. He certainly wasn’t interested in academia we had a couple of wobbles when he was 15 or 16 and kicked out of school. You can actually see him in footage from the Reading Festival After that experience, he just said: “Dad, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” I bought him his first kit when he was 12 and he’d hang out with me and my mates, the Foo Fighters. Even when it’s your own child, poo smells dreadful!Īll kids are fascinated by drums because they can bang them, but it was obvious that Rufus really got it it was in his blood. Once or twice, I changed Rufus’s nappy on a car journey in an emergency, but, in general, I think men find it rather gruesome. I was pretty good with most of the dad stuff - apart from changing nappies. Mind you, Fred was always fabulous with kids - he was the one who came up with Rufus’s middle name: Tiger. he was the one who came up with Rufus’s middle name: Tiger’įreddie Mercury was still alive when Rufus came along in 1991 and those two got on famously. Mind you, Freddie Mercury was always fabulous with kids There’s not some from “this relationship” and some from “that relationship” they are a gang of five. The important thing for me has always been that the kids support each other and feel like brothers and sisters. Wouldn’t it be great if relationships were simple and easy? Sadly, breaking up with people who mean a lot to you is never simple or easy. Yes, I’ll admit my life back then was, well… let’s say it was complicated. I guess I wanted to make sure Felix and Rory were looked after financially. I also had Felix and Rory Eleanor from a previous relationship, but in that situation, we did eventually tie the knot. Although Rufus’s mum and I were together for about 15 years, we never did get married. Rufus was actually my third kid and he’s got two younger sisters, Tigerlily and Lola. Couples either get on or they don’t get on. I could maybe say that about my own parents they should have split up way before they did. So much misery has been engendered by a meaningless contract… people end up staying together because of a piece of paper. I’d always seen marriage like a mortgage - one of those society plots designed to tie you down. But being a bit of a rocker, I didn’t get married until eight years later. I first became a dad when I was 30, and by then Queen had been together for 10 years. Queen’s father-and-son rhythm section - Roger and Rufus today (Paul Stuart) Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor, and his son Rufus, also a drummer, talk about being in one of the most famous rock bands in history, going off the rails and why marriage feels like a mortgage. RELATIVE VALUES: I WANTED TO DO MAD STUFF LIKE DAD
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