Duran Duran: Ready to Rock New Year’s Eve and 2017

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Iconic British band Duran Duran is a chameleon in the music world. Never willing to stand still or stay the same, Duran Duran has rocked the charts for over three decades selling over 100 million records and producing 18 American hit singles and 30 UK Top 20 songs. This New Year’s Eve, they are heading across the pond to help fans ring in the new year with their signature style.

Drummer Roger Taylor and bandmates singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, and bassist John Taylor seem quite happy to be working on the holiday. “We love playing on New Year’s Eve. And it’s going to be great fun,” says Roger Taylor. The band will play two concerts (December 31, 2016 and January 1, 2017) at The Theater at MGM National Harbor, the new state-of-the-art venue just outside of Washington, D.C. “It looks incredible and Washington is one of my favorite cities,” notes Taylor.

I cornered the legendary drummer for my podcast where we chatted about the the Duran Duran phenomenon. So, does he have any theories on the band’s amazing longevity? Taylor pauses, “Wow, longevity— that’s a tough one to really talk about. But I think a lot of the people that we grew up on knew all about longevity. Particularly, David Bowie was somebody that really influenced us. And I think he taught us that you should never be afraid to change, to keep reinventing yourself in a way. And I think we’ve done that. I think that every album that we’ve made has been very different. We’ve never tried to make the same record twice. And I think that’s very important. I think you have to kind of keep your audience guessing a little bit…I mean when we made Rio, it was an enormous success for us. But the first thing we said was, ‘Okay now we’ve got to make something different.’ So we went off in a different direction. Made Seven and the Ragged Tiger which is a totally different kind of record. But it worked, you know. So I think the thing is to not be afraid of change.” Duran Duran’s latest album Paper Gods, once again, showcases this fearless and ever-changing presence.

What can fans look forward to if they’re ushering in 2017 with Duran Duran? “The main thing is, we pick from 30 years of [our] catalog. We play all the big hits from the ’80s. We play the big songs from the ’90s. We’ll feature a fair bit of the new album, so it’s a real cross-section of all of the catalog,” says Taylor.

Blending the best of the classics and the new— sounds like the perfect way to begin a new year.

Courtesy Parade Magazine

Listen to Roger's full podcast here