Duran Duran Rock Hall Induction Brought ‘Pride’ and ‘Sadness’

Simon Le Bon mentioned Duran Duran’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame introduced them combined feelings, as a result of former guitarist Andy Taylor’s most cancers meant he could not be part of them for the ceremony.

In a current interview with BBC Radio 2, the singer described 2022 as their greatest yr for the reason that dizzying heights of the ’80s, and seemed ahead to extra motion within the coming yr.

“It was an incredible moment of pride, but also of sadness too,” Le Bon mentioned. “Andy Taylor, he’s very unwell. And we were very sad that he couldn’t be there with us to share with us.”

Le Bon defined that after the ceremony, the band traveled to Ibiza to deliver Taylor his award. “He’s in very good shape, actually, as it happens,” Le Bon mentioned. “But you know, he’s got a serious disease and he actually couldn’t make it over to L.A. There’s a lot of love there between him and us.”

The vocalist revealed that the ceremony was the primary time he’d ever met fellow Black Country frontman Rob Halford. “Rob’s lovely; Rob’s a really nice guy,” he reported. “Judas Priest, really nice bunch of guys, and it’s great to see them still at it.” But he was even happier about having been in a position to meet Dolly Parton. “I got to sing!” he mentioned. “She’s so much more in real life than she is on TV. … She’s an extraordinary real maverick of the business. I was so proud to have that moment.”

Along with their Rock Hall victory, Le Bon mentioned the band’s performances on the Commonwealth Games and the Queen’s jubilee celebrations had additionally been momentous experiences, such that 2022 was “easily the best year that Duran Duran has had [since 1980] – and maybe, sort of in its own way, was better than anything we did then.” He continued: “There was so much that went right [and] you do appreciate it because you never know what’s gonna get taken away. But also, we’ve got a lot better at it than we were then. … It’s all about the music and all about the show [when it] used to be about the parties, really.” He identified: “We still have a little bit of partying left in the us now!”

Looking forward, he insisted there was far more to come back. “Well, we like each other. We respect each other,” he mentioned of the band’s longevity. “We respect the differences. We don’t try and force everybody to be the same. We love being in Duran Duran. We love the music we make together, and we share the money equally – which is probably the biggest, most important thing.”