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Era-defining new romantic superstars
New wave idols Duran Duran were one of the first bands to truly capitalise on the new frontier of MTV. With a run of high concept, high-end production videos to innately catchy singles, the band’s rise to stardom was practically meteoric.
The band was formed at school in Birmingham in the late ’70s by friends Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, brought together by a shared love of an eclectic range of influences, from post punk to Roxy Music. Their first frontman was Stephen Duffy, who would later go on to front cult Birmingham outfit The Hawks. After a series of line-up changes, Roger Taylor (no relation to John and not to be confused with the Queen drummer) joined on drums, Andy Taylor (also no relation to Roger or John) on guitar and Simon LeBon on vocals.
At the dawn of the ’80s, Duran Duran had already secured a major label deal with EMI. Their first single Planet Earth peaked at No.12 on the UK singles chart, positioning the band at the head of the burgeoning new romantic movement. Their second single performed even better; Girls On Film was the band’s first top ten hit, even though the BBC banned its highly sexed video.
All this, and Duran Duran hadn’t even released an album yet. When their self-titled debut finally arrived in summer 1981, it went to No.3, staying in the UK album charts for a remarkable 118 weeks. The band weren’t about to rest on their laurels, returning the following May with Rio, one of the defining albums of the decade. From transatlantic smash hit singles Rio and Hungry Like The Wolf to the band’s defined style and model looks, Rio turned Duran Duran into a proper phenomenon.
The band dipped back into their debut album for their next single Is There Something I Should Know?, which became their first UK No.1 after entering the top ten in the US. Duran Duran continued their relentless assault on the charts with their third album at the end of 1983. Seven And The Ragged Tiger featured the hit singles The Reflex (the band’s first transatlantic No.1).
Two more hits followed in the shape of non-album track Wild Boys in 1984 and A View To A Kill, the theme from the Bond film of the same name, in 1985. Following the latter, and with the group’s popularity waning, Duran Duran went on hiatus. Andy and John Taylor joined Power Station, while the remaining three members formed their own group Arcadia. Soon afterwards, both Andy and Roger Taylor left the band. The remaining trio regrouped for Notorious in 1986 and Big Thing in 1988, both of which performed well.
Duran Duran staged a surprise resurgence in 1993 with Duran Duran [The Wedding Album], which featured new guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and the huge hit Ordinary World. John Taylor departed in 1996, leaving the band to record their next three albums as a trio.
In 2001, rumours started to circulate that the three Taylors, Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon were planning a reunion of the band's classic early 80s line-up. That was confirmed in May, with the band touring and working on new material over the ensuing years. This material was released as Astronaut in 2004, followed in 2007 by Red Carpet Massacre, which was produced by Timbaland. In 2011, the band teamed up with renowned producer Mark Ronson for All You Need Is Now. Ronson was involved again, alongside Nile Rodgers, for 2015’s Paper Gods, which also included guest appearances from Janelle Monáe and John Frusciante.
Duran Duran was scheduled to play British Summer Time 2021. The festival was postponed but the band was confirmed for the following year at BST 2022 in Hyde Park alongside Nile Rodgers & Chic(Opens in new tab).
In 2024, the band announced another joint headliner with Nile Rodgers for Chelmsford City Live on Saturday 5 July 2025, with tickets on sale on Friday 6 December 2024.
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Why have a top ten when you can have one more? Here are our 11 favourite Duran Duran songs, ranked
Hands down one of the best shows ever. What a performance … everything was spot on from the musicians, to the costumes, visuals, pyrotechnics, special guest appearance and everyone getting into the spirit of Halloween. Perfection personified. Thank you Duran Duran . J🔥💃
Duran Duran amazing and great atmosphere throughout ! Wish I had known that there was a thick glass panel in front of us which did impair our view and was in the stairwell people coming up and down throughout so missed quite a bit of the it 😢Parking ok but took over 50 minutes to get out but car park safe ! Drinks expensive but worth it 😊
Co-op Live hosted the Duran Duran Hallowe'en spectacular and the night didn't disappoint. Fantastic venue with plenty of room in the communal areas. Staff very friendly and helpful. Onto the show. The sound quality was great, graphics and screens were amazing and the band were as tight as ever. Great to hear some of the covers from Danse Macabre (Spellbound and Psycho Killer being my particular favourites) along with favourites from the band's vast back catalogue of bangers. A night to remember. Hoping for a repeat date in 2026.
I have seen Duran Duran many times but this show was up there as possibly their best! A superb Halloween show with every song having a dazzling spooky set and a great list of classic songs with fabulous performances from the Danse Macabre album. A full house at the Coop live arena were really up for it, many dressed up in Halloween costumes but Simon, John, Nick, Roger and the rest of the wonderful band looked and played superb. A fantastic night, can't wait for next year! 🎃
Fantastic show from Duran, they never fail, over 40 years in the business and can still fill a venue. This is our second visit to Co-op Live this year, such a brilliant venue, from easy access to the much welcomed padded seating throughout. The facilities are fantastic and the staff we've dealt with have all been spot on. I'm more inclined to book more shows here than in my home city of Newcastle as our arena is old and tired.
Bit disappointed to be honest. The venue was open for entry very early and by 7.30pm we were happily seated along with a good half of the crowd. By 8pm we were still sat waiting. 8.30pm came and went. The venue was almost full by this time. By 9pm, there was still no sign of the artists. Eventually, 9.10pm the band appeared and knocked out three tracks, which I personally, wasn't familiar with. I think three covers were done, two of which were decent and one crucified. Simon disappeared and a couple of female backing singers sang a track. After that the show took a turn for the good and some familiar sing along tracks were performed which got some of the crowd up dancing. There was a brief entertaining encore and that was it.... seats weren't cheap. So all in all, I was a bit underwhelmed. Sorry lads, you could do better.
This was our last trip to CO OP Arena. Far too expensive for beer. Pure rip off. We were in block 318, very poor vie as they put lighting rigs low down. So dissatisfied and disappointed, Duran Duran were fantastic but the venue completely spoilt it.
When I bought the tickets no where did it state Halloween special yes I know it was on Halloween night but the crowd was a bit bored of all the Halloween songs they done about 5 of there more well known songs and so many more they could have done like ordinary world white lines come undone and save a pray etc although we did still have a good night but I definitely wouldn't recommend block 302 as you can't see anything at all but the side of the stage and the big massive speakers and also if you have a fear of heights like me you Deffo need to be on the floor level or level 1 at the most cost level 3 and 4 are so so high it was actually making me panic
Brilliant performance from all! Waited 40 years and it was worth it 🤩🥰
Great visuals they sounded amazing they were half an hour late so surely we missed some songs went a bit flat in the middle but started and ended amazing
When we booked, we were very excited because we've never seen Duran Duran in concert before. However, we were disappointed when we didn't hear Duran Duran songs and all we got were very random Halloween songs that we had no idea what they were. It was the first time we had ever walked out of a concert we were so disappointed with what we were watching.
Secret Oktober 31st Halloween Ball by Duran Duran at The Co-oP Live was a very Thriller'ing Time infact the clocks stopped whilst Duran conjured up there Warlock like spells with Duran gems & glittery covers of a Spooky nature , speaking of nature a Supernature a Snakey Union Syco-Killers Girls On Film Photographers , Hungry Werewolves with Fantastic/Durantastic Fretts strumming Us to Danse Macabre like possessed Lunatic Asylum Inmates Perscribed Happiness But with careful what you wish for exuberance from a funky bass to tight skin thumping drums mesmerising synth and hallowed Spells sung in enchanted rhythms&rhyme splendour… it was a Killer Concert inDeeD.
I've not been to see Duran Duran for at least 10/15 years due to finances etc so when my younger friend Claire ( by younger she is 43 I'm 56) said on her bucket list is to see Duran Duran, I jumped at the chance, she wanted to go with a super fan. This would be my 5th/6th time. But what we loved is, it wasn't just the hits or an album tour, it was a real Halloween Party. We loved that mixed in with the classics, were covers and rarely done album tracks. The graphics and staging was awesome, telling a story as were the film clips. The costumes were all part of the theatrics. But the sound was pure and clear. Simons voice in harmony with the brilliant backing singers and other band members, just made each song an event. I could name each song, but every single one was performed to perfection. A highlight for me was Shadows on your side, which is an album favourite of mine. I know it appears on the Danse Macabre which the whole concert was based on. 43 years of loving Duran Duran, and this has topped everything previous... a classic event with a classic band. As for Claire...she loved it!
Had such a blast at the Duran Duran Halloween Gig 💀dressed up as a Zombie it was brilliant to see so many crazies dressed up! This band was my favourite group growing up! The venue is ace for concerts. A couple of negatives the amount of people openly vaping inside the venue whilst they shouldn't be. Plus the logistics of getting there, not so much going, it's the going home, the tram system that lets it down! Fab night.
Despite taking our seats at 7pm there was no support act and consequently no atmosphere….the band didn't get on stage until 9:05 despite an advertised start time of 8:30. The gig was clearly a Halloween special but too many covers for me and as a result missed some of there biggest hits which was really disappointing. A rushed and two song encore due to an 11pm threshold resulted. The band have still got it and Le Bon still the showman with a great voice but overall we were left short changed by the experience.
Loved the concert but did not like the arena much prefer the AO Too much walking, I have mobility issues, staff where very helpful letting me through shortcuts though
Duran Duran out of this world, still got what a super band as after all these years 🤘
The show was supposed to start at 20.30 but Duran Duran didn't appear until 21.00. That meant for first 30 minutes we were subjected to recorded music that, quite frankly, was dreadful. It comprised songs probably from the 40's or 50's that had a vague Halloween theme but were largely irrelevant to the main act. By the time Duran Duran came on stage our group were completely turned off. The band played most of their hits but mixed that up with Halloween themed songs that had been performed far better by the original band. For example, Ghost Town which was nowhere near as good as The Specials. Al in all very disappointing.
I've seen Duran Duran previously and found the last concert flawless! As a huge Halloween (and Duran Duran) fan I couldn't think of a better way to spend my night, sadly I was disappointed by the missing hits - no ordinary world, come undone or save a prayer, not even their hit Invisible which would've had a spooky feel to it! So sadly I did leave feeling let down. Would have preferred to hear their hits than covers.
What can I say about a brilliant night apart from spellbinding amazing!! Thank you guys. Xx
