Duran Duran fans, always hopeful for another full band reunion did, last week, at least get an update via the band on the progress of Andy Taylor, their founder member and guitarist who has been diagnosed with incurable fourth-stage metastasised cancer.
Speaking at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy last week, vocalist Simon Le Bon, when asked about Taylor, told the event’s press conference: “I am sure he would love to be here. As you probably know, he’s got prostate cancer. It’s very late stage, fourth-stage metastasised cancer. He’s fighting as hard as he can, and we are with him in that fight.”
“There is something between us that keeps us together,” he went on. “First of all, we love the music we make together. Nobody else makes music like we do. We’ve all tried to do things on our own, and it just doesn’t seem as exciting as when the four of us get together and work.”
Famously the guitarist has had something of a rocky ride with the band over the years following their '80s four-album heyday, with his participation in projects ever since never guaranteed, frequently teased, but not fulfilled.
Taylor was absent for their fifth album, 1986’s Notorious as the band’s hiatus and his Power Station side project became a sustained string of other, more pressing engagements. He would proceed to flirt with appearances with the band over the ensuing decades – missing out on Duran’s 1993 Wedding Album renaissance – only fully committing to Duran again for 2004’s album, Astronaut.
The man himself was last seen on TV in the company of Lorraine Kelly, discussing his illness and recent reunion with the rest of Duran Duran following their 2022 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – a gig that Taylor confirmed, but reluctantly was forced to drop out of due to his ongoing illness.
“I’m doing great. I’ve had two rounds of treatment over the past couple of months. I’m from the walking dead to the singing and dancing,” he told her on the show.
“When I was diagnosed five years ago that was the time span you had. There wasn’t the treatments that you have now. I had to live with that. My family had to live with that. Then, after missing the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – the biggest night of my life – a guardian angel intervened and said there’s something that can work for you.”
Taylor’s treatment has seen the star able to continue writing, recording and releasing solo work in the intervening years, though a full recovery is impossible.
As for a future, full Duran Duran reunion featuring their founder member, we can all only hope.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
“I owe it to my brethren in metal not to have a Spotify account because they don’t pay people”: Cradle Of Filth's Dani Filth amps up music’s increasingly anti-Spotify sentiment
"A great drummer whose innovative patterns helped shape our songs": Rick Buckler, drummer of The Jam, dies aged 69 after a short illness
