He was born in Birmingham, England and joined Duran Duran in 1979, and climbed with them to fame and fortune in the early 1980s. After their massive round-the-world tour in 1984, the shy and retiring Roger was burned out and exhausted. He worked that year with Duran bandmates Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes on the album So Red The Rose for their side project Arcadia, but that band never toured, and Roger did not participate in its promotion. Roger played one last show with Duran at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia, but at the end of 1985, he bowed out of the rock world and retired to the English countryside with his wife and children.
In 1994, Roger joined Duran Duran in France to play drums on a couple of tracks for the covers album Thank You.
In 1997, after his children were grown, Roger began flirting with the music industry again. He briefly formed the band Freebass, which produced a single but never got a record deal.
In 2001, Roger rejoined Duran Duran, as all five of the original members reunited to record new material.