<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lead guitarist of Australia-based New Zealand rock band Dragon, Robert Taylor, has died, his former bandmate has revealed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Taylor was the lead guitarist for the band during arguably its most prominent period in the late 1970s, playing on hits like Are You Old Enough and April Sun in Cuba.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The band's drummer during much of that same period, Kerry Jacobson, took to social media to share the "unexpected and devastating news" of Taylor's death.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/shonkys-awards-choice-names-commonwealth-bank-temu-hcf-energy-retailers/100afa9c-2325-4462-a1ec-e1618e6d8c6a" target="_blank"><strong><span>Choice reveals its Shonkys 'award' winners for 2025</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jacobson said the "irreplaceable" Taylor was his "mentor", "partner in crime", "musical comrade", and a "dear friend of decades".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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," he wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/dragon-guitarist-robert-taylor-dead-bandmate-announces/4feb4af1-0730-4741-9670-7e86ae1a4f42" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/crystal-hanley-charlie-nowland-child-abuse-victim-impact-statements/06fa46f7-0ed2-43c5-a819-28d8cddd00e8" target="_blank"><strong><span>Mum joked as six-year-old daughter died from neglect, court hears</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The New Zealand-born Taylor played with Dragon from 1974 to 1979, and then again from 1982 to 1985.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He 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," Jacobson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple App Store</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>.</span></em></strong></div></div>