Robert Taylor, former lead guitarist and backing vocalist with ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted rock band Dragon, has died aged 74.
Taylor’s passing was confirmed in a social post by ex-drummer Kerry Jacobson.
“I’m writing to share the unexpected and devastating news of the passing of my mentor, my partner in crime for some of the best times, my musical comrade through the hardest of times and my dear friend of decades…the irreplacable (sic) Robert Taylor,” he writes.
“Many admired his songwriting and his musical talent and, after all these years people would still speak to me with great reverence of his talent and contribution to Australian music.
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“I admired his loyalty, I treasured his mateship, I valued his consistency and I absolutely loved it when often the phone would ring and he was up for a chat.”
Born in Waipukarau, New Zealand, Taylor had a hand in some of the most enduring Australasian songs of a generation.
Dragon was formed in Auckland, NZ, and relocated to Sydney, Australia in the mid-70s. Led by the band’s flamboyant and self-destructive frontman Marc Hunter, Dragon pumped out the hits, initially in the back-end of the 1970s with “Are You Old Enough?,” “April Sun In Cuba” and “Still In Love With You”.
The ‘80s wasn’t kind to many bands from the previous decade, but Dragon orchestrated an impressive comeback with the 1983 album Body and the Beat, which spawned the hits “Rain,” “Cry,” and “Magic.” The first of those, “Rain,” poured down for a Billboard Hot 100 appearance in 1984, peaking at No. 88.
Taylor was there as Dragon spread its wings for two distinct heydays, performing in the band from 1974–1979, and again from 1982–1985.
Dragon continued to breathe chart fire through the ‘80s with “Speak No Evil,” “Dreams of Ordinary Men,” “Young Years” and a cover of Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration.”
Dragon was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2008, ten years after Hunter died with throat cancer, at the age of 44. Taylor joined his surviving Dragon bandmates for the special Hall of Fame presentation at Melbourne Town Hall.
Taylor “had a dry wit, was a keen observer and had a memory like a razor but mostly he was just one of the good ones,” writes Jacobson. “That’s what has stuck in my head today “he was one of the good ones” and I think that sums it up. I will miss him terribly. My love and condolences to Carol, Lesley and Alex.”
Today, Dragon continues to tour and record with a lineup featuring co-founder and bass player Todd Hunter — Marc’s brother — and Mark Williams on vocals.
