Born Roger Charlery in Birmingham of St Lucian dissent, he was a member of 1980s two-tone band The Beat then, later, General Public (made up with former members of Dexys Midnight Runners and Horace Panter and The Specials).
With The Beat they released three albums: the critically acclaimed and seminal ‘I Just Can't Stop It’ in 1980, ‘Wha'ppen?’ in 1981 and ‘Special Beat Service,’ in 1982. In the early 1990s, he joined members of The Specials to form the new band Special Beat.
He also collaborated with Pato Banton in 1987 on the song ‘Pato and Roger Come Again’. Included on Banton's album Never Give In, the song was a follow-up to their earlier collaboration on ‘Pato and Roger a Go Talk’, which appeared on ‘Special Beat Service’. He joined Pato again in 1995 on ‘Bubbling Hot’, which reached number 15 on the UK single charts. He also sang on stage with The Police on their 2007 world tour.
He undergone surgery for two brain tumours and had treatment for lung cancer. He was 56.
