Duran Duran are reportedly in the process of working with former guitarist Andy Taylor on a new album.
Taylor – who played with the band on-and-off between 1980 and 2001 – was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer four years ago.
He was set to reunite with Duran Duran last year when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame but a setback with his treatment forced him to miss the occasion.
Bassist John Taylor has now confirmed that the band are working with the guitarist again. “When he dropped the bomb two days before the Hall of Fame, it was really shocking and terribly sad,” he said (via The Mirror). “We’re working on an album right now that is going to be coming out at the end of the year and he’s playing guitar.
“There’s a lot of cover songs on the album, songs meaningful to us when we were kids. So having him be a part of that project is great.”
Taylor continued: “LeBon is flying to Ibiza to work with Andy. I kind of wish I was there. I think it’ll be great. It’ll be really profound for them. They haven’t been in the studio together in maybe 10 to 20 years.”
Andy Taylor opened up about his ongoing battle with cancer earlier this year.
Speaking with 5 News, Taylor explained that he’d learned of his cancer shortly after he’d noticed “what you would think was an arthritic sort of pain” during a jog. “I never thought more of it than that,” he said of the first symptoms, assuming the pain was due to his age, before he’d begun noticing other symptoms – such as “what felt like tumours” on his neck.
He continued: “I went and had a biopsy done, and I came back for the results – and no-one could be prepared for that mistake. And actually, the consultant was a little late, and he sat down and said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry’ – and I thought he was apologising because he was late. And he said, ‘It’s prostate [cancer],’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, well, my dad had that. I understand.’ He said, ‘But it’s stage 4, metastatic… which is a death sentence.’”
Meanwhile, Duran Duran are gearing up to embark on an arena tour of the UK and Ireland at the end of April. They’ll perform (without Taylor) in Manchester, London, Leeds, Birmingham, Dublin and Glasgow.
Scissor Sisters frontman and solo artist Jake Shears will be joining the band as a special guest opening act at the concerts along with Lia Lia. You can find any remaining tickets for Duran Duran’s 2023 ‘Future Past’ tour here.