Duran Duran reportedly set to reunite with Andy Taylor on new album

Duran Duran are reportedly working with former guitarist Andy Taylor on a new album.

The guitarist – who played with the band on-and-off between 1980 and 2006 – has terminal stage 4 prostate cancer, having being diagnosed with the illness around four years ago.

Taylor was set to reunite with Duran Duran onstage for the first time in 17 years at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in November 2022, but was forced to miss it after experiencing a setback in treatment.

Now, bassist John Taylor has said that the band are working with the guitarist again on new material.

“When he dropped the bomb two days before the Hall of Fame, it was really shocking and terribly sad,” John said (via The Mirror), speaking at An Unforgettable Evening in Los Angeles on Thursday (March 16).

“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.”

He continued: “Had he come to LA and just gone on the TV show, we probably wouldn’t have even thought about it. That [the album] happened as a result of this. 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.”

The band are also reportedly recording in London and LA. “[Simon] LeBon is flying to Ibiza to work with Andy. I kind of wish I was there. I think it’ll be great,” John added. “It’ll be really profound for them. They haven’t been in the studio together in maybe 10 to 20 years.”

The bassist did not say if Andy Taylor’s involvement will be part of a documentary, but said: “Somebody will have an iPhone on it.”

John also alluded to the new project in an interview with 99X Atlanta earlier this month, sharing: “There’s a project that we have in the works that’s going to be coming out towards the end of the year.”

“It’s mostly covers, actually; that’s part of a whole conceptual project we’re working on,” he added. “We are going back into the studio together in a month or so, just to see what we can cook up.”

Andy Taylor opened up about discovering his cancer diagnosis earlier this year, telling 5 News: “I was out jogging, and I started to notice what you would think was a kind of arthritic sort of pain, and I never thought more of it than that. I started having these symptoms… and then I noticed on my neck I had what felt like tumours.

“[The consultant] said it was stage four, metastatic – which is a death sentence.”

Rolling Stone UK has contacted Duran Duran’s press representative for comment.

Duran Duran are heading out on a UK, Ireland and North American tour this year, kicking off in Manchester on April 29, with two dates scheduled for London’s O2 Arena (May 2, 4) with further dates in Leeds, Birmingham, Dublin and Glasgow before they head to the States in late May. You can find all dates and tickets here.