John Taylor: “The musical groups are extinct”
John Taylorbassist of Duran Duranthink that musical groups are an extinction race.
“The period of the groups is almost finished,” said Rocker during the Sanremo Festival. “Were there groups at the Grammy this year?” The bass player rhetorically asked.
In fact, although many groups were still present in the rock categories – such as Metallica, Rolling Stones, Bealtles, Green Day and Pearl Jam – the main prizes were dominated by solo artists such as Chappell Roan, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish.
Yet they (again) praised the work done by Maneskin And the bassist of the Roman quartet Victoria then climbed with them on the Ariston stage, joining the band’s performance.
As Taylor noticed, the transition from groups to solo artists is clearly contrasting with the music scene of when Duran Duran started.
“We grew up in the sixties and seventies and we saw that dynamic on stage and discs, in which the partners are the same and bring something special in everything they do, and we have not found a way to improve it,” he explained. “There is something very special in our mutual chemistry”.
So the frontman Simon Le Bon explained what Duran Duran has held together for over 40 years.
“First of all, we love the music we do together: no one else makes music like us,” he underlined. “We tried to do things alone, but it doesn’t seem to be as exciting as when we four gather and work.”
“We make ourselves laugh with each other,” continued the singer. “I think this is really important in a long relationship. When we are under stress, we laugh and this keeps everything light and fun”. And the other is that we divide all the proceeds into equal parts … we all participate in the same way in finances “.
The Duran Duran were born in Birmingham in 1978, to found them the schoolmates are John Taylor (guitar and bass), Nick Rhodes (synthesizer keyboards) and Stephen Duffy (voice and bass). Their artistic references are Glam Rock and Synth Pop, that of Roxy Music, David Bowie and Ultravox.
The initial formation is short -lived: Duffy and Colley leave the band, replaced by Roger Taylor and Andy Wickett to which Andy Taylor (no relationship between the two Taylors) and Simon Le Bon are added. This training in 1981 published with this training in 1981 released the first homonymous album which follows many successful publications.
After a break in the mid -1980s, some members took parallel projects: Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor created the Arcadia, while John and Andy Taylor I Power Station, but in 1986 the band meets, publishing, After three years of record absence, the album ‘Notorious‘.
In Sanremo he was absent Andy Taylorwho, as Duran Duran recalled during the press conference is fighting against a tumor. “Andy has prostate cancer in the fourth stadium with metastasis, he would have liked to be here with all his heart. He is fighting like a lion to overcome him and we are with him in this battle. With the head and with the heart ”.
The band is expected again in Italy For four summer dates:
Sunday 15 and Monday 16 June 2025 at the Circus Maximus in Rome
Wednesday 18 June 2025 at the Fair of the Levante in Bari
Friday 20 June 2025 – The Days Milan Hippodrome Snai San Siro in Milan
