Duran Duran re-form with cancer-battle Andy Taylor
Band and guitarist to record new album
DURAN Duran are getting back together with cancer-stricken Andy Taylor to make a new album.
Lead singer Simon Le Bon, 64, is set to work on tracks with former member Andy, 62, at the guitarist’s studio in Ibiza.
Andy has terminal stage 4 prostate cancer and his five-year battle became public when he was missing from the iconic band’s induction into the US Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November.
Later, dad-of-four Andy, who left the group in 2006, told a magazine: “It’s a death sentence… it’s a slow burn, so it’s not going to take you quickly.”
John Taylor, the bassist with Duran Duran – who had huge hits with Girls on Film and Rio – said: “When he dropped the bomb two days before the Hall of Fame, it was really shocking and terribly sad. We’re working on an album right now that is going to be coming out at the end of the year and he’s playing guitar.
“Had he come to LA and just gone on the TV show, we probably wouldn’t have even thought about it. That [the album] happened as a result of this. There’s a lot of cover songs on the album, songs meaningful to us when we were kids. So having him be a part of that project is great.” John, 62, spoke at this week’s Unforgettable Evening in LA, which raised €1.8million for the Women’s Cancer Research Fund. Andy and wife Gela have long supported the gala, which honoured the support given by actress Sharon Stone. The band – which also features Nick Rhodes, 60, and Roger Taylor, 62, and kicks off a UK tour in May – will record in LA and London. And John said: “Lebon is flying to Ibiza to work with Andy. I kind of wish I was there. I think it’ll be great. “It’ll be really profound for them. They haven’t been in the studio together in maybe 10 to 20 years.” John did not say if the comeback will be part of a documentary but added: “Somebody will have an iphone on it.”