Andy Taylor has shared some insight into the decades of feud rumours making the rounds since he left Duran Duran.
The guitarist is known for being part of the Birmingham new wave band’s most famous line-up, along with lead vocalist Simon Le Bon, keyboard player Nick Rhodes, drummer Roger Taylor and bass player John Taylor.
Andy Taylor joined Duran Duran in April 1980 and left in 1986 to pursue a solo career. In 2001, Taylor rejoined the band for a series of successful concerts and their 2004 album Astronaut before leaving again in 2006.
Throughout Taylor’s years of absence from the band, there have been several reports of bad blood between him and the remaining group members.
However, thoughts of a truly tempestuous relationship between Taylor and the fellow “Rio” stars were quelled when the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Taylor, despite not being a part of the group, was invited to the ceremony, but didn’t attend due to ill health from prostate cancer.
Le Bon read a letter from Taylor at the event that publicly revealed news of his cancer for the first time. In a new interview with The Times, Taylor spoke about the impact he felt after being included in that way.
“It takes someone with a very special quality from their heart to do that and not drop a word,” Taylor said of Le Bon. “People don’t realise he’s actually quite a classy guy.”
Taylor makes a guest appearance on Duran Duran’s forthcoming studio album, Danse Macabre, and explained that it was easy to slot back into place with the band when recording. “There’s a certain position that everyone would naturally adopt – it’s like a reflex,” he said.
Talking about the band butting heads over the years, Taylor explained that it never descended into anything “ungentlemanly”.
“As Simon has said, we’ve all had our differences but we’ve remained gentlemanly about it. Just because we have the same name [referring to John and Roger] doesn’t mean we have to slag each other off,” he noted. “And I don’t have a problem with Nick at all.”
Andy Taylor and Duran Duran— (ITV / Getty)
Taylor went on to explain that his past issues with Rhodes came from what he perceived as the keyboardist’s “head boy energy”.
“I used to beat up the head boy . . . figuratively speaking,” he told the publication. “But isn’t it in everyone’s interest – dozens of people at the label, the publishers and management – to try their best to resolve those things? A lot of what happens lies outside the five of us.”
According to him, many things that have been written about the band have been “f***ing bulls***, like I can’t stand Nick”.
Earlier this month, Taylor also discussed how some “nuclear medicine” had extended his life expectancy by five years, after his stage four prostate cancer diagnosis four years ago.
