Since his fourth solo album Electric Fire in 1998 Taylor has been performing as a solo artist, as part of ensembles, and infrequently as Queen with May.
At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers (founder and former vocalist of Free and Bad Company). May’s website also stated that Rodgers would be ‘featured with’ Queen as Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.
Between 2005 and 2006, Queen + Paul Rodgers embarked on a world tour, the first leg being Europe, the second Japan and the US in 2006. On 15 August 2006, May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at a “secret location”. The album, titled The Cosmos Rocks, was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the US on 28 October 2008. Following the album release the band embarked on a tour through Europe and South America, opening on Kharkov’s freedom square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans. This performance was shown in cinemas on 6 November 2008 for one airing only, and later released on DVD.