48 Fun Facts About Duran Duran

In which English city was Duran Duran formed in 1978?

Birmingham is where Nick Rhodes and John Taylor formed the band in 1978 with singer Stephen Duffy, who quit the next year, before they had a record deal, and later led The Lilac Time.

Duran Duran took their name from a villain in which 1968 science-fiction film?

Barbarella's villain is the mad scientist Durand Durand; John Taylor suggested borrowing his name after the Jane Fonda space romp was shown on BBC television in October 1978.

Which nightclub made Duran Duran its resident band in 1980, its owners becoming their managers?

The Rum Runner gave the band a room to rehearse in and jobs around the club, from the door to the DJ booth; its owners, Paul and Michael Berrow, became their managers.

Who recommended Simon Le Bon to Duran Duran before his May 1980 audition?

A club employee, Fiona Kemp, who was or had been his girlfriend, worked where the band rehearsed and sent the drama student along; he turned up for the audition in pink leopard-print trousers.

How are Duran Duran's three Taylors related?

Not at all: the three simply share a surname. John co-founded the band, Roger joined in 1979, and Andy came down from Newcastle in 1980 after answering an advert for a guitarist.

What was Duran Duran's first hit single, which peaked at number 12 in early 1981?

Planet Earth reached number 12 in the UK and went top ten in Australia, helped by a Russell Mulcahy video the band made so they could promote it there without making the trip.

Which Duran Duran video, made by Godley & Creme for nightclub screens, was banned by the BBC?

Girls on Film was shot with nudity for the video screens in clubs and bars, beyond the reach of broadcast rules; the BBC banned it and MTV aired only a cut-down edit.

Which record label signed Duran Duran in December 1980?

EMI signed the band in December 1980, while they were touring as Hazel O'Connor's support act; their debut album followed the next June and reached number three in the UK.

Which May 1982 Duran Duran album produced 'Hungry Like the Wolf', 'Save a Prayer' and its title track?

Rio made the band stars at home in 1982 but stalled in America until MTV put its exotic videos in heavy rotation, which sent 'Hungry Like the Wolf' to number three there.

Which artist painted the woman on the cover of Duran Duran's 1982 second album?

Patrick Nagel got the job after the band's manager came across his illustrations in Playboy; designer Malcolm Garrett then built the sleeve around the painting.

In which country was the 'Hungry Like the Wolf' video filmed?

Sri Lanka hosted the 1982 shoot, which also produced the 'Save a Prayer' video; Andy Taylor toppled off a branch into a lagoon while miming his guitar part and later ended up in hospital.

'Hungry Like the Wolf' earned Duran Duran a 1984 Grammy in which category?

Best Short Form Music Video was a brand-new Grammy category in 1984 and the band took the first one; MTV's heavy rotation of the jungle clip had already broken them in America.

On which Caribbean island did Duran Duran film their famous yacht video in 1982?

Antigua is where the band were on holiday when a film crew flew in to shoot them aboard the 1936 yacht Eilean; Nick Rhodes said he only likes boats when they're tied up and he has a cocktail.

Which member of the royal family publicly declared Duran Duran her favourite band?

Diana, Princess of Wales, named them her favourite band soon after her 1981 wedding, and she and Prince Charles watched their charity concert at London's Dominion Theatre in July 1983.

What did 'Is There Something I Should Know?' become for Duran Duran in March 1983?

Their first UK number one went straight in at the top in March 1983, and the band's American label then added the stand-alone single to a relaunched US edition of the debut album.

Which 1983 album was Duran Duran's first to top the UK chart?

Seven and the Ragged Tiger was made while the band spent a year abroad as tax exiles, a slow and costly job, yet it topped the UK album chart in December 1983.

Who remixed 'The Reflex' into Duran Duran's first US number one?

Nile Rodgers of Chic took a song that had been passed over as a single and rebuilt it with stuttering samples; his remix of 'The Reflex' topped the US chart in June 1984.

Which Bruce Springsteen single did 'The Reflex' block from reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

Dancing in the Dark reached number two in June 1984 behind 'The Reflex'; Prince's 'When Doves Cry' then took over at the top and stayed there, so Springsteen's single never made number one.

'The Wild Boys' was inspired by a plan to film a novel by which Beat writer?

William S. Burroughs wrote the 1971 novel The Wild Boys, which video director Russell Mulcahy hoped to film with a Duran Duran soundtrack; the film was never made, so his ideas went into the song's video.

'A View to a Kill' was the first James Bond theme song to do what?

Top the US Hot 100 is what it did in July 1985. The song came about after bassist John Taylor, a Bond fan who'd had a few drinks, cornered producer Cubby Broccoli at a party and pitched the band for the job.

Which veteran film composer co-wrote 'A View to a Kill' with Duran Duran?

John Barry shaped the song more than he wrote it: Simon Le Bon said the veteran Bond composer took the band's ideas, kept the good ones and put them in order.

Which single kept 'A View to a Kill' at number two in the UK chart?

Paul Hardcastle's '19' began with a television documentary he had taped: struck by its claim that the average American soldier in Vietnam was 19, he set samples of its narration to an electro beat.

At which venue did Duran Duran play Live Aid on 13 July 1985?

JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, hosted the US half of Live Aid, where Le Bon's voice cracked on a high note in the band's Bond theme; it proved to be the classic five's last show together for years.

Which singer fronted The Power Station, the 1985 side project of John and Andy Taylor?

Robert Palmer sang on the album and its hit 'Some Like It Hot', then quit before the tour to make a solo record, leaving singer-actor Michael Des Barres to front the band on the road.

Which single by Arcadia, the 1985 side project of Le Bon and Rhodes, reached the top ten?

Election Day reached the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic; its spoken narration is by Grace Jones, who that year co-starred in the Bond film whose theme the full band recorded.

What was Simon Le Bon's maxi yacht, which capsized in the 1985 Fastnet Race, called?

Drum lost her keel and capsized in the 1985 Fastnet Race, trapping Le Bon under the hull until Royal Navy helicopter divers freed him.

Which two members left Duran Duran before their fourth album came out in 1986?

Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor both went: Roger, exhausted, retired to the countryside, while Andy signed a solo deal and played on only a few of the album's tracks.

Which ex-Missing Persons and Zappa guitarist joined Duran Duran in 1986 and stayed until 2001?

Warren Cuccurullo began as a hired hand in 1986 and was later made a full member; the band recorded its 1993 album in a studio at his London home, and he left in 2001, when the original five reunited.

Which rapper's single is built on the riff of Duran Duran's 1986 title-track hit?

The Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous single 'Notorious B.I.G.' loops the riff, so Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Simon Le Bon are credited among its writers.

Whose wedding photographs appear on the cover of Duran Duran's 1993 'Wedding Album'?

The band members' parents appear in their wedding-day photos, which gave the self-titled record its nickname; after years of decline it became a comeback, with 'Ordinary World' and 'Come Undone'.

Which opera singer performed 'Ordinary World' with Simon Le Bon at a War Child benefit?

Luciano Pavarotti invited Le Bon to one of his Pavarotti & Friends benefit concerts in Modena, where the pair sang the ballad as a duet to raise money for War Child's work with children in Bosnia.

Which former member returned to drum on Duran Duran's 1995 covers album Thank You?

Roger Taylor had quit in the mid-1980s and sat in on two tracks, but did not rejoin for good until the 2001 reunion.

Which Duran Duran single featured in the 1997 Val Kilmer film The Saint?

Out of My Mind comes from Medazzaland, the album bassist John Taylor walked out on in 1997, partway through recording, leaving the band to finish it as a trio.

Which lead single from the 2004 reunion album Astronaut was the original five's first together since 1985?

(Reach Up for The) Sunrise was three years in coming: the original five got back into a rehearsal room in 2001 and went out on tour again before they released any new music.

Which producer helmed Duran Duran's album All You Need Is Now, first released as a download in 2010?

Mark Ronson, a self-confessed superfan, had reworked the band's old hits with them at a one-off concert in 2008; the following year they went into the studio together.

Which album gave Duran Duran a UK top-five album in a fifth consecutive decade?

Future Past entered the UK chart at number three in 2021, after the pandemic had held up its release, extending a run of top-five albums that began with the band's 1981 debut.

Which actor inducted Duran Duran into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022?

Robert Downey Jr. inducted them on 5 November 2022 in Los Angeles; Le Bon read a letter from the absent Andy Taylor revealing his stage-four prostate cancer.

What is the theme of Duran Duran's 2023 album Danse Macabre?

Halloween is the theme: the band so enjoyed playing a Las Vegas show on 31 October 2022 that they built an album around it, mixing new songs with covers such as 'Psycho Killer'.

What was Nick Rhodes's birth surname before he chose his stage name?

Bates was the family name, and the family business gave the band its first home: the earliest line-up got together to play in a room above his parents' toy shop.

As a child, Simon Le Bon appeared in a TV advert for which product?

Persil washing powder cast the six-year-old Le Bon as a small boy in an off-white shirt after he passed a screen test, years before he became a drama student.

Duran Duran rose to fame as part of which early-1980s British club scene?

New Romantic was the name given to the dressed-up club crowd the band came from; they dropped the phrase into the lyrics of their first single after spotting it in a music-paper headline.

Which band gave Duran Duran a writing credit on their 2015 single 'Hey Everybody!'?

5 Seconds of Summer built the song around elements of 'Hungry Like the Wolf', so all five members of the classic line-up are listed among its writers.

Which Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist played on Duran Duran's 2015 album Paper Gods?

John Frusciante was out of the Chili Peppers at the time, having quit years earlier; he added guitar to several Paper Gods tracks, then rejoined his old band in 2019.

Nick Rhodes co-produced which band's 1983 debut single, a UK number one?

Kajagoogoo owed their break to Rhodes: he helped get them a record deal, then co-produced 'Too Shy' with Colin Thurston, and it went to number one in the UK and the top five in America.

Which pop star presented Duran Duran with the Outstanding Contribution award at the 2004 Brit Awards?

Justin Timberlake handed over the award in February 2004 and later produced and sang on 'Falling Down' from the band's 2007 album Red Carpet Massacre.

Which band did Duran Duran support on a tour of America in 1982?

Blondie had the newcomers as its opening act on what proved to be its last American tour before the group split, just as MTV was starting to make stars of the support band.

Which album title did Duran Duran scrap after Andy Taylor's second departure in 2006?

Reportage was shelved after the guitarist's second exit in 2006; the band started afresh with Timbaland and new guitarist Dom Brown on 2007's Red Carpet Massacre.

What did Duran Duran fail to win back in a 2016 High Court case?

US copyrights in their early songs stayed with publisher Gloucester Place Music: the judge held that the band's English contracts barred them from using an American law that returns rights after 35 years.