#DURAN DURAN MEMBERS FULL#

The band's second studio album, originally released worldwide on, reached #2 in the UK and #1 in Australia. ' Rio' was, simply, a commercial juggernaut.

Totally dedicated to on-site filming, guitarist Andy Taylor even contracted a tropical virus and ended up hospitalized, thankfully getting better relatively quickly.

#DURAN DURAN MEMBERS FULL#

He later said, 'Rio, to me, was shorthand for the truly foreign, the exotic, a cornucopia of earthly delights, a party that would never stop.' The band had their own plans and ambitions for promotion and reunited with director Russell Mulcahy (who was behind the video for 'Planet Earth') to plan out the release of a full length 'video album'- eleven videos in total.

They headed into AIR Studios in London in early 1982 anxious to somehow top themselves.īand member John Taylor came up with the new album's title, ' Rio', as a product of his fascination with the flaunting sexuality and diverse atmosphere of Brazil. As their fame grew, some fans worried that Duran Duran could have peaked too early. As they also experienced considerable success with ' Girls on Film', which hit #5 on the UK Singles Chart and #11 on the Australian Singles Chart, the group firmly grasped the opportunity to make a name for themselves in musical television. Music videos for hit singles ' Planet Earth' and ' Careless Memories' were filmed in December 1980. The initial United States release failed to generate much interest at first, but the group was a British sensation due to their strident mix of pop rock and electronic music. Top 100 for 117 weeks, achieving platinum status by December 1982. ' Duran Duran' hit #3 on the album charts and remained in the U.K. The band's eponymous debut album came out promptly afterwards in June 1981. Being Duran Duran's first Top 10 hit anywhere in the world, the song showed the group's interest in international stardom. Singles Chart on 21 February, and it did even better in Australia, hitting #8 there. ' Planet Earth' became an immediate hit in the band's native U.K., reaching #12 on the U.K. The band felt that they had something special with vocalist Simon Le Bon, and the group smashed into the pop scene shortly afterwards when ' Planet Earth', their debut single, was released on 2 February 1981.

Several drummers and guitarists were subsequently tried, as well as a handful of vocalists, after Duffy left Duran Duran early in 1979. Their first singer and one of their original founding members was Stephen Duffy, and their original bassist was Simon Colley. Their flashy outfits and strident, art rock influenced music showed an immense debt to 70s English glam artists such as David Bowie and Roxy Music, yet the band grasped a sense of their own identity and became one of the keystones of the new romantic movement. Though many of the videos were tongue-in-cheek, the band has never quite escaped the glamorous and decadent 'jet set' image that their early videos projected.

Their songs are often vivid, hook-laden pieces dance pop that have fared well on the radio, but what many remember best about Duran Duran is their iconic music videos. The band has sold more than 100 million records over their more than 40 years of existence, making them one of the best-selling groups in history. Created by Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and John Taylor (bass) in Birmingham, England in 1978, it later add took in Roger Taylor (drums), Andy Taylor (guitar), and Simon Le Bon (lead vocals). Duran Duran (named after a character in Roger Vadim's sci-fi classic, Barbarella) is an electronic pop rock band that was part of the New Wave movement of the 80s and 90s.