Duran Duran have given an update on guitarist Andy Taylor following his absence at a major event.
The Tynemouth-born star is fighting stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer, which is incurable. The news of Andy’s illness was broken by the band back in 2022, when he was unable to join them at their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On Thursday, Andy, 63, was again unable to join his long-time collaborators at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy, but Duran Duran lead vocalist Simon Le Bon explained his friend’s absence and updated fans on Andy’s health.
“I am sure he would love to be here. As you probably know, he’s got prostate cancer. It’s very late stage, fourth-stage metastasised cancer. He’s fighting as hard as he can, and we are with him in that fight,” he said at the event’s press conference.
Later, he added of the current band dynamic: “There is something between us that keeps us together. First of all, we love the music we make together. Nobody else makes music like we do. We’ve all tried to do things on our own, and it just doesn’t seem as exciting as when the four of us get together and work.
“We make each other laugh, and I think that’s very important in a long relationship. When we are under stress, we laugh all the way through it, and it keeps everything light and fun. And the other thing is, we split all the proceeds equally. No one takes all the publishing. We all share the finances equally.
Andy has mainly focused on music as a solo artist in recent years, but true to Simon’s words still seems heavily invested in his old band. The group shared a video to YouTube in October 2024, showing that he was back in the studio with Duran Duran jamming away.
While Andy’s cancer is incurable, in 2023 he spoke about being administered Lutetium-177 – a nuclear drug designed to target cancer cells in the bones – which allowed him to live much better while still fighting the disease.
Appearing on Lorraine, he shared: “I’m doing great. I’ve had two rounds of treatment over the past couple of months. I’m like from the walking dead to the singing and dancing.” Lorraine enthused: “It’s incredible, because in many ways, you shouldn’t be here.”
Andy was quick to agree with the ITV host, revealing that he’d initially been told he would only have a few years to live. “When I was diagnosed five years ago that was the time span… I had to live with that and so did my family,” he explained, before adding that he believes that he’s been visited by “an angel” since starting Lutetium-177.
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Source: Mirror
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