Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis: “I’m Gonna Live Life”

January 17, 2023

Former Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor has opened up about his life with incurable prostate cancer, saying he is simply “gonna live life”.

The guitarist revealed the diagnosis during the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 last November. Taylor was unable to attend the ceremony, so frontman Simon Le Bon read out a letter Taylor had written for the occasion, detailing his battle with Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer.

Duran Duran – ‘Rio’

“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,” the letter from Taylor read.

In a new interview with Channel 5 News, Taylor detailed how he first noticed the symptoms while jogging four years ago. “I started to notice what you would think was a kind of arthritic sort of pain, and I never thought more of it than that,” he told 5 News. “I started having these symptoms… and then I noticed on my neck I had what felt like tumours,” he said. “[The consultant] said it was stage four, metastatic – which is a death sentence.”

He went on to say the amount of support he received after announcing the news was overwhelming. “The amount of love and support of offers of help,” he said. “I realised that by talking about it… Duran have quite a large female fanbase, so it’s like, your partner, your boyfriend… give them a nudge, get them a test.”

There’s no cure for his cancer, Taylor says in the interview, and he’s focusing on living life. “I’ve made three albums since [my diagnosis], I went on the road with some friends of mine, the band Reef, and played some shows, which were fantastic,” he said. “I often say to people, every minute’s like an hour, every day’s like a week. You really wanna get the most out of life.

“I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve had so much, in terms of living the dream, but because I do music, I think that’s probably really helped me to live with pessimism of an incurable disease.”

You can watch the full interview below.

On the night of the induction, Le Bon said the band were devastated by the news. “To find out that a colleague… a mate, a friend, one of our family is not gonna be around for very long. It is absolutely devastating,” he told press backstage. “We love Andy dearly. I’m not gonna stand here and cry, I think that would be inappropriate, but that’s what I feel like.”