drummer Roger Taylor, and lead vocalist Simon
LeBon rounded out the main lineup through most
of the decade. They were known for their synthesizer-
driven music and elaborate music videos. They were
also known for their good looks and deliberate focus
on style as well as music. Their popularity increased
through coverage in teen magazines such asSmash
HitsandTiger Beat, and some drew comparisons be-
tween Duran Duran’s American fans and those of
the Beatles in the 1960’s. The British press dubbed
them the Fab Five, a deliberate echo of the Beatles’
Fab Four moniker.
The band reached the height of its fame in the
mid-1980’s and sold more than 70 million albums
worldwide during its career. By 1984, it was featured
on the cover ofRolling Stonemagazine. The group’s
1980’s albums includedDuran Duran(1981, re-
released in the United States in 1983),Rio(1982),
Seven and the Ragged Tiger(1983),Arena(1984),Noto-
rious(1986),Big Thing(1988), andDecade: Greatest
Hits(1989). Its 1980’s U.S. hit singles included
“Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Is There Something
I Should Know?,” “Union of the Snake,” “New Moon
on Monday,” “The Reflex,” “The Wild Boys,” “A View
to a Kill,” “Notorious,” “I Don’t Want Your Love,”
“Do You Believe in Shame?,” and “All She Wants Is.”
“The Reflex” was the band’s first U.S. number one
single, and “A View to a Kill” was the first theme song
from a James Bond movie to reach number one on
the U.S. charts.
In 1985, Duran Duran’s exhausted members took
a hiatus from the full band and worked in smaller
groups on several outside projects. Nick Rhodes,
Simon LeBon, and Roger Taylor formed Arcadia,
while John and Andy Taylor joined Robert Palmer
and Tony Thompson to form Power Station. The full
band reunited briefly to record “A View to a Kill” and
to perform at the July 13, 1985, Live Aid concert at
JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Roger
and Andy Taylor left the band the following year.
The band then went through several changes in the
ensuing years, with the original lineup briefly reunit-
ing in the early twenty-first century.Impact Duran Duran’s members were video pio-
neers who rose to prominence in the United StatesThe Eighties in America Duran Duran 303
Duran Duran in January , 1980. From left: Andy Taylor (guitar), John Taylor (bass), Simon Le Bon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards),
and Roger Taylor (drums).(Hulton Archive/Getty Images)