Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor misses Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction due to cancer

LOS ANGELES — It was a big night for Duran Duran as the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, but it also was a night tinged with sadness.

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Andy Taylor, the band’s original guitarist, was unable to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles because he has been battling health issues caused by Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer, Variety reported.

Taylor, 61, wrote a letter that was read to the audience by Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon, according to Rolling Stone.

“Just over four years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. Many families have experienced the slow burn of this disease and of course we are no different; so I speak from the perspective of a family man but with profound humility to the band, the greatest fans a group could have and this exceptional accolade,” Taylor wrote.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction was supposed to be a reunion for group members past and present, according to Rolling Stone. Current members Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor appeared, but Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo did not.

“We’ve always maintained a decent relationship with these guys,” Le Bon told Rolling Stone. “We didn’t have so-called ‘acrimonious splits.’ It was gentlemanly and it was understood. And pretty much mutual.”

Andy Taylor said in his note that he was receiving “world-class treatment,” but added that he had recently suffered a “setback,” Variety reported. He added that while his condition is “not immediately life-threatening, there is no cure.”

“Despite the exceptional efforts of my team, I had to be honest in that both physically and mentally, I would be pushing my boundaries,” Taylor wrote. “However, none of this needs to or should detract from what this band (with or without me) has achieved and sustained for 44 years.

“We’ve had a privileged life, we were a bit naughty but really nice, a bit shirty but very well dressed, a bit full of ourselves, because we had a lot to give, but as I’ve said many times, when you feel that collective, instinctive, kindred spirit of creativity mixed with ambition, armed with an über cool bunch of fans, well what could possibly go wrong?”

“It is devastating news to find out that a colleague … not a colleague -- a friend, one of our family -- is not gonna be around for very long,” Le Bon told reporters after the band’s induction, according to Variety. “It is absolutely devastating. We love Andy dearly. I’m not gonna stand here and cry or anything, that would be inappropriate, but that’s what I feel like.”

Duran Duran was named for a character in the Jane Fonda film, “Barbarella,” according to Variety. The band was formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978 by keyboardist Rhodes and bassist John Taylor. Roger Taylor joined the group in 1979, followed by Andy Taylor and Le Bon in 1980, according to the magazine.

The group benefited from the early popularity of MTV, with music videos like “Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Is There Something I Should Know?”

The band also was nominated for a Golden Globe for “A View to A Kill,” from the James Bond movie of the same name.

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37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony - Arrivals LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 05: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis attend the 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Microsoft Theater on November 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Rock and Ro)

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