Roger Pope : Drums

Before Roger P. started playing with Elton he played drums in bands like Soul Agent in the mid 60'ies, when Rod Stewart was the lead singer. He met Caleb Qaye and Dave Glover and together with Ian Duck they created the band Hookfoot, which also worked as a session band for Elton on his early records like Empty Sky.

Roger Pope influenced many recording decisions in some of EJ's first singles, like Lady Samantha, It's Me That You Need and Rock'n'roll Madonna.

After Nigel Olsson got hired as a drummer, Roger Pope continued in Hookfoot. They released four albums and a Greatest Hits record before the band split up in 1974. Thereafter Roger started playing drums for the new Kiki Dee band which split up in 1975.

In the spring of 1975, the Elton John band was expanded and improved. Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson were now out of the band and Roger became the new drummer. He stayed in the band until 1976 where Elton took a break from touring. If you compare Roger to Nigel, their sounds and playing style are very different. His style is evident on the Blue Moves album. After the EJ period, Roger played with bands like Hall & Oates, China, Cliff Richard and so on.

Latest news is that Roger is sick and suffers from a lung disorder which prevents him from playing out. He was invited to Elton's M.S.G concert and was given one of the best seats. At the concert he met Nigel Olsson who is once again part of the EJ band. Nigel once said in an interview : " I always felt there was a friendly contest between me and Roger. I thought if i wasn't good enough Roger would step in and take my place. "