Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor takes a look back as the band forges ahead
More than four decades after their ’80s-defining run of hits began and more than three decades after the onetwo comeback punch of “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” lifted them out of MTV-era nostalgia purgatory, it remains a good time to be Duran Duran. Their 2021 album “Future Past” got the new wave legends their best reviews this century, and they continue to fill arenas. There’s also the little matter of their induction last year into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
This particular moment in Duran Duran’s history is a rather bittersweet one, though, coming as it does in the wake of former guitarist Andy Taylor’s announcement, on the eve of reuniting with his old band for their Hall induction, that he had been diagnosed with incurable stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. “We were so excited to be getting back onstage with Andy again,” says drummer Roger Taylor, ahead of Duran Duran’s date Sept. 6 at TD Garden. “It was going to be a huge moment. And we found out at literally the last minute.”
Andy Taylor is reportedly contributing to Duran Duran’s upcoming album, but in the meantime, the band is touring with another longtime collaborator, who also happens to be one of its foundational influences: Chic’s Nile Rodgers “They always say that you’re often disappointed when you meet your heroes, but Nile was never disappointing,” Roger Taylor says. “And Chic, the whole band, actually, were mentors to us. They were never judgmental, they always encouraged us. They helped us to become who we are today as musicians.”
Q. What does being inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame mean to you?
A. It means a hell of a lot, to be honest with you, because I often say that we never got much affirmation from the press or the industry. Although we were selling bucketloads of records and concert tickets, we never really had much affirmation from the press. So it’s always great to get these things.
Q. Your initial tenure in the band was only about seven years. When you left Duran Duran in 1985, did you ever think that you’d play with them again?
A. Wow, I don’t know. I took a leap into the unknown. I knew that I wanted to do something different for a while. I had to step out and find out who I really am as a person, and I had no idea whether I would be coming back. A lot of people would leave a band at the age of 25 and that would be it, the career would be over. So I see myself as very fortunate that the band was still in some sort of existence and that we could re-form again. And I came back a completely different person, I think. I had a bit of a chance to grow up. I think I had a bit of impostor syndrome, actually, in the first period of the band. I couldn’t quite believe this had happened to me and if I was worthy enough to be a part of that huge success. And that’s why I had to step away for a while.
Q. What is it like to play songs that were recorded during the time when you weren’t a member of the band, like “Notorious” or “Ordinary World” or “Come Undone”?
A. That’s a good question, actually. When I came back, I could play the songs that I’d played on very easily, of course, because I wrote those drum parts. But then I had to figure out songs that the drum parts were written by [other] people like Steve Ferrone, who’s an amazing drummer. So I had to really sit down and focus on those and put my own imprint on them because I didn’t want to just copy them. That was probably the most challenging part of the reunion, playing other people’s parts. But I’ve grown into them, and I’ve played them so many times that I’ve kind of made them mine, I think, now. Great songs are easy to play, and songs like “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” are great songs.
Q. My sister was 12 years old in 1983.
A. Uh-huh. [Chuckles]
Q. And she loved Duran Duran, and she was unequivocally a Roger girl.
A. Awww.
Q. I have asked her what her 12-yearold self would have asked you, and here are some of the questions that she’s given me to ask.
A. How nice. OK.
Q. “Why did you choose drums?”
A. I think because my dad was a bit of a budding musician. He liked to learn to play lots of different things. He played the guitar, he played the harmonica, he played the accordion, and I thought, “I want to be like my dad in some way, but he plays everything else, so I’m gonna play the drums because he doesn’t play drums,” and I just got really hooked on it. I started watching people play on TV and just got kind of obsessed with it.
Q. “What was and is your favorite thing about being in Duran Duran?”
A. Oh, wow, there’s so many great things. Like last night [in Las Vegas], it was this sea of people that are just responding and giving you this affirmation, which is probably what we’re all looking for, actually. They say every musician actually is low on self-esteem in some way, because they’re trying to find affirmation from lots of people. So when you walk down at the end of the night and you get the affirmation from the crowd and they loved what you’ve done and the show has been great, that’s what we’re all working toward. There’s nothing really that touches that moment.