Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon has revealed the secret behind the band’s longevity: splitting all their income equally.
The British new wave group – singer Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor – are preparing to headline the British Summer Time (BST) music festival at London’s Hyde Park on 10 July.
The performance will be part of their 40th anniversary celebration tour and will be their only show in London this year.
When asked what has kept the group together for so long, Le Bon said: “We have friendship, we have passion for music that we share.
“But there’s one other thing that I think is important, it’s quite prosaic in a way, but the fact is we split all of the income equally.
“So nobody earns any more than anybody else, and any band out there reading this, I would suggest that that’s a very good way to proceed, if you want to be in a band that is together after 40 years.”
The band was formed 44 years ago in Birmingham in 1978 and released their 15th studio album – Future Past – last year.
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Their hits included Hungry Like The Wolf, Rio, Girls On Film, Wild Boys and Bond theme A View To A Kill.
They will be honoured as inductees into the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
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‘Incredible partnership that just keeps going’
Bassist Taylor said: “It’s our friendship primarily, we’re mates that happen to make a lot of music over the years. We’ve got this incredible partnership that just keeps going.
“But I think it’s our friendship really. And friendships over time have to take on a lot of shapes.
“You’ve got to have a lot of respect. We’ve grown up together. We’ve all gone and made music with other people and it’s always interesting when we come back.”
‘It’s chaos really’
Drummer Taylor said: “It’s totally democratic as well, that’s one of the big things. That every decision has to be run through the whole band. You don’t have one person that makes any decision on their own.”
Speaking about the creative process between the band and asked if there are any “ground rules”, Le Bon said: “One rule: nobody comes in doing any homework, we’re just too lazy for that.”
Keyboardist Rhodes said: “It’s chaos really; we rely on chaos and can organise it somehow. Some fabulous incidents happen along the way.”
