Rumours are confirmed as 80s band join their producer for two songs
Duran Duran joined Mark Ronson for a surprise appearance at London's Lovebox festival tonight (July 17).
Rumours had been circulating on Groove Armada's Twitter page since yesterday afternoon (July 16) about the team up and towards the end of his UK comeback on the Main Stage the producer confirmed the news.
"I want to introduce a couple of friends of mine for this next song," he declared. "Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon."
Duran Duran's keyboardist and lead singer were greeted with huge cheers as they led his band through the title track to Ronson's forthcoming third album 'Record Collection', which you can watch below.
Kaiser Chiefs drummer Nick Hodgson also joined them for the performance before Le Bon, who was dressed in a white waistcoat, introduced the rest of the band - bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor - for a rendition of their 1981 debut single 'Planet Earth'.
When the band left the stage, a humbled Ronson, who recently produced their forthcoming album, said: "I never thought I would be onstage with Duran Duran."
The gig was Ronson's first in the UK with his new band The Business Intl which included further collaborations with The View's Kyle Falconer who sang new track 'The Bike Song', Rose Elinor Dougall who stepped in for Lily Allen on Ronson's take on 'Oh My God', Phantom Planet's Alex Greenwald who sang 'California' and the Ronson-tweaked version of Radiohead's 'Just' while executing an impressive crowd-surf.
MNDR (aka Amanda Warner) also flew over from Brooklyn for new single 'Bang Bang Bang' which saw her team up with rapper Spank Rock, who stepped in for Q-Tip on the track. Later she also performed on new album track 'Sparrow'.
As Ronson rounded off his performance he thanked the crowd for being tolerant over his return. "I have not seen my friends for two years so thank you for bearing with us," he added.
Falconer then joined the band for 'Valerie' which he previously stepped in for nearly three years ago when Amy Winehouse was unable to perform.
Mark Ronson and The Business Intl played:
'Circuit Breaker'
'Bang Bang Bang'
'Just'
'Lose It'
'Ooh Wee'
'The Bike Song'
'Oh My God'
'Start Stop Synchro'
'Hey Boy'
'California'
'Sparrow'
'Record Collection'
'Planet Earth'
'Valerie'
Duran Duran join Mark Ronson onstage at Lovebox
Courtesy NME
