- 1938: Born in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- 1945: Started playing the cornet at age 7.
- 1951: His music teacher during school, Fred Rupp, put a tuba in his hands for the first time. Later, he would take lessons from Robert Marsteller (principal trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra for 25 years and a virtuoso euphonium player).
- 1954: Attended his first year at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan.
- 1956: After graduating from high school, he went to Eastman School of Music in New York, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, studying with Donald Knaub (bass trombonist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) and Emory Remington (Professor of Trombone at the Eastman School of Music). The same year he joined Eastman, the Rochester Philharmonic asked him to audition because their tuba player had been unexpectedly drafted for military service. Then he was offered the position by Eric Leinsdorf.
- 1957: Robert Spillman wrote the first of all the pieces dedicated to him, Two Songs, still being performed today.
- 1961: On March 31, he gave what is reputed to be the first solo tuba recital in the history of Carnegie Recital Hall, getting great reviews and even inspiring the poet John Updike to write a poem about it.
- 1962: After doing auditions and being accepted for both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and the Swiss Romande Orchestra in Geneva, Switzerland, he chose the Concertgebouw, where he was appointed tuba by Bernard Haitink.
- 1964: Was appointed tuba of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, where he spent 25 years under the baton of Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, and André Previn.
- 1966: Founded the Los Angeles Brass Quintet with fellow members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, touring the U.S. and Europe and giving its last concert in 1975.
- 1967: Debut album with the Los Angeles Brass Quintet on Crystal Records.
- 1969: Released his debut solo album, Roger Bobo & Tuba Play Galliard, Barat, Kraft, Hindemith, Wilder (Crystal Records), with pianist Ralph Grierson.
- 1971: Participated in Lalo Schifrin’s album Rock Requiem — For the Dead in the Southeast Asia War (Verve).
- 1973: Released the album Solo Brass: New Perspectives (Avant Records) with trumpet player Thomas Stevens.
- 1974: Second album with the Los Angeles Brass Quintet, Bach, Brown, Cheetham, Schmidt — With Stanley Chaloupka, Harpist (Crystal Records).
- 1978: Released the album Botuba (Crystal Records) with trumpet player Thomas Stevens and pianist Ralph Grierson. Also participated in The Venetian Brass Album (Avant Records) by members of Los Angeles Philharmonic & San Francisco Symphony conducted by Lester Remsen.
- 1979: Released the album Gravity Is Light Today (Crystal Records) with guitarist Fred Tackett, pianists Ralph Grierson and Roger Kellaway, bassist Skip Mosher, and drummer Ray Rich.
- 1980: Released the album Prunes (Crystal Records) with hornist Frøydis Ree Wekre and pianists Zita Carno and Roger Kellaway.
- 1981: Released the album Tuba Nova (Crystal Records) with cellist Daniel Rothmuller and pianist Ralph Grierson.
- 1989: Participated in the trumpet player Thomas Stevens’ album Reynolds, Kraft, Wen-Chung, Henderson, Revueltas, Campo, Kupferman (Crystal Records). This year, while on sabbatical with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he began teaching at the Fiesole School of Music near Florence, Italy, where he ended up living without getting back to his orchestra.
- 1992: Moved again to the Netherlands, where he spent two more years teaching at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Alexander Arutiunian dedicated his Tuba Concerto to him.
- 1993: Crystal Records released Bobissimo! The Best of Roger Bobo — a compilation CD featuring the best of his previous releases.
- 1994: Returned to Italy, where he continued his teaching activity. Also, released the album Tuba Libera (Crystal Records) with pianist Marie Condamin, and the European Tuba Octet.
- 1996: Published his method book Mastering the Tuba (Editions BIM) with multilingual English, French, and German texts.
- 1998: Moved to Switzerland, where he was appointed Professor of Tuba at the Lausanne Conservatory. At times, he would also teach simultaneously at the Conservatory of Bern, Switzerland, and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, United Kingdom.
- 1999: Special guest on the Hungarian tuba player Roland Szentpáli’s album I Killed My Lips.
- 2001: Gave his last concert on May 29 in Riva del Garda, Italy. After this, he retired from active tuba performance to devote his time to conducting and teaching.
- 2006: Moved to Japan, where he taught at Musashino Academy of Music in Tokyo.
- 2007: Crystal Records released Rainbo-Bo: The Man with the Golden Tuba — a compilation from three recordings.
- 2014: Moved to Oaxaca, Mexico, where he continues to teach both face-to-face and online classes.
- 2023: He passed away at the age of 84.
