Leon Taylor was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. When he was three his  family moved to Los Angeles, where he lived until 2008. With his father Mel Taylor, the drummer for The Ventures as his mentor and teacher, he grew up listening to, and ultimately playing, many styles of music. Other influences include his uncle Larry Taylor, the original bass player with Canned Heat. As teenager and in his early twenties he played with all types of bands with diverse styles such as artists like, Led Zepplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayhall, Iron Butterfly, Styx, Rush, Jethro Tull, Kansas among many others, which allowed him to adapt to any musical situation. He gained more insights into performing through the many live dates and studio recordings. His father Mel followed his career closely. In the early-1990s, his father mentioned that he was thinking of retiring some time in the future to work on recordings and producing other artists – he hoped that Leon would take over for him as drummer for The Ventures. The time came sooner than expected in 1996 when his father was having some health issues and had to come home from Japan during The Ventures annual summer tour. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in late July and passed away on August 11th not before asking Leon to take over the drum throne for him with The Ventures. Leon has performed with The Ventures for 20 years, and has made the drum platform his own.

He has played well over 700 shows in Japan alone, as well as 100’s of concerts in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, and The Ventures" "Surfin" to Baja" cruise to Mexico in 2003. He has also played on over 20 studio CDs, as well as half a dozen live CDs for the Japanese market. Several of these CDs have been released in the USA. He has played a Tribute show for Les Paul a PBS live show in the USA and has been on many TV shows in Japan. He is also a co-writer on several of the more recent Ventures original songs. In 2004 The Ventures members received an award from The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for contributing to friendly relations between Japan and USA, No other artists in modern music share this honor. The Ventures members received the illustrious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette award from the Japanese government in recognition of their contribution to the development and enrichment of music culture in Japan, as well as to the promotion of cordial relations between Japan and the United States. He also excepted the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Award in 2008 on behalf of his father Mel Taylor and performed  with The Ventures on that same show. He continues to record and play live performances with The Ventures today.