ROCK legend and Queen drummer Roger Taylor will be playing the York Barbican on October 5 as part of a 'modest' 14-date UK tour.

The solo tour, which will kick off at Newcastle on October 2 and includes dates at Liverpool, Manchester and London's O2, coincides with the release of Taylor's new solo  album Outsider on October 1.

With the pandemic putting Queen + Adam Lambert’s UK and European tour on pause until 2022, the acclaimed drummer decided to hit the road for a set of 'intimate shows'.

Marking his first live performances outside Queen in over two decades, the tour will showcase his 'distinctive percussive, vocal and songwriting talents that have been integral to Queen’s live and recorded output since 1970' a spoksperson said.

He will perform with a specially assembled tour band made up of Queen + Adam Lambert’s keyboardist Spike Edney and supporting drummer Tyler Warren, guitarist Jason Falloon and Goldfrapp live keyboardist Angie Pollock and bassist Charlie Jones.

Taylor, the songwriter of many of Queen’s biggest hits - including A Kind of Magic, Radio Ga Ga, I’m In Love With My Car, Sheer Heart Attack and These Are the Days of Our Lives - promises that as well as showcasing material from his new album, he will also be revisiting some Queen classics.

“For some time now, we’ve all just been trying to get by,” he says.

“Now, it’s back to the basics, myself and some great musical pals getting back out there to play some rock.

"Obviously we’ll include some of the Queen classic catalogue, and some of my earlier solo work, but we’ll also be introducing them to some of the new stuff. So we hope folks are going to come on down.”

Ticket pre-sale for the Outsider tour starts on June 8 at shop.emi.com/rogertaylor/