![]() ![]() Taking their name from a character in Roger Vadim's psychedelic sci-fi film Barbarella, the group began playing gigs in the Birmingham club Barbarella, supported by a drum machine. Inspired by David Bowie and Roxy Music, as well as post-punk and disco, schoolmates Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and John Taylor (guitar) formed Duran Duran in 1978 with their friends Simon Colley (bass, clarinet) and Stephen Duffy (vocals). ![]() Over the next decade, they collaborated with a number of prominent modern hitmakers, including Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Mark Ronson, and Blur's Graham Coxon, who featured on their 2021 album Future Past. The group forged an alliance with Chic's Nile Rodgers for 1986's funky Notorious, then refashioned themselves as mature balladeers in 1993 and landed one of their biggest hits with "Ordinary World." The original lineup from the New Romantic era reunited for 2004's Astronaut, a move that helped revive the band's profile. Unlike many of their new wave peers, Duran Duran managed to sustain a career that lasted for decades, withstanding a shifting lineup - the duo of keyboardist Nick Rhodes and vocalist Simon Le Bon were the only two members to stay with the group throughout the years - and changes in musical fashion. Between 19, they were fixtures on the British and American charts, with "Is There Something I Should Know?," "Union of the Snake," "The Wild Boys" and the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill" reaching the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic. The group had the good fortune to deliver their debut album in 1981, the same year MTV began broadcasting, and their success was intertwined: Duran Duran gave the network clever, cinematic clips for "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf," which MTV played ceaselessly, helping to turn the Birmingham, England-based band into global superstars. Duran Duran epitomized the sleek, fashionable side of new wave, specializing in danceable, synthesized pop delivered with visual flair - a talent crystallized in a series of groundbreaking music videos from the early 1980s. ![]()
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