Queen's Roger Taylor Hoping to Finish New Solo Album in 2012

QueenExtravaganza.com2011 was an eventful year for Queen's Roger Taylor, who participated in a wide variety of events commemorating his group's 40th anniversary.  The drummer also organized and served as a judge for the Queen Extravaganza, the talent-search competition to help find young musicians who will participate in a multimedia tour featuring the band's music next year.  Taylor recently told ABC News Radio that in 2012, he's hoping to get away from Queen-related projects a bit and focus on a solo album he's been recording "on and off" for about four years.

"It's been sort of a labor of love, but I sort of shoehorned it in a little," he explained.  "But now I'm getting a little bit more time and it's looking like it's coming towards completion…I'd like to concentrate on that next year."

He added, "It's been a lot of Queen for me this year, and by the end of the year I'll have had enough.  I'm still a musician and it's nice to do new things."

He says he also will continue to "do isolated projects" as Queen with longtime band mate Brian May, although he maintains that they don't have "a burning desire to spend all our time doing it."

Taylor did mention that one new Queen-related release that likely will see light of day in the not-too-distant future is the previously reported unissued tracks that late singer Freddie Mercury recorded with pop superstar Michael Jackson.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio