Duran Duran, the Guardian interview: "We look like delicate types, all dolled up in make-up, but we're actually really tough"

Duran Duran are getting ready to celebrate Halloween with a new special show, scheduled for October 31st at London's O2 Arena. The event has by now become a tradition for the British band, who in recent years have turned the occasion into a chance to reinvent their repertoire, experiment with costumes and spectacular stage sets, and indulge in the odd foray into other artists' catalogues. In a lengthy interview given to Alexis Petridis for the British newspaper The Guardian, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor looked back over their career, from the excesses of the 1980s to their ability to survive the music industry's upheavals, also discussing their relationship with fame and the passing of time.

The idea for the Halloween shows came about almost by chance in 2022, when Duran Duran were preparing for their induction ceremony into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. An available date in Las Vegas that happened to fall on October 31st gave Nick Rhodes the idea of putting on something different from a regular concert. That's how a show with costumes, gothic atmospheres and covers like Billie Eilish's "Bury A Friend" and Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" came to be — with Billie Eilish referenced via this link. The success of the experiment led to further performances in New York and Manchester, and above all to the 2023 album "Danse Macabre", which also featured former guitarist Andy Taylor, despite the serious illness he had revealed publicly right around the time of the band's Hall of Fame induction.
The shows have grown progressively more elaborate over time, featuring pyrotechnics, dancers and fire-eaters. Simon Le Bon, while admitting he isn't particularly fond of Halloween, has thrown himself into the game of dressing up: he's been a werewolf, the ghost of a sea captain, a sort of cross between Mad Max and a mummy, and even a jellyfish. For the upcoming London show, he'd like to take inspiration from Shiva the Destroyer.

Behind this theatrical streak lies a newfound expressive freedom, won after decades spent in the spotlight. "I don't give a toss what people think of me," Le Bon told The Guardian. "I'm not speaking for the whole band — I'm sure it still matters to some of them — but I just do what I do." Looking back on the years of global stardom, the musicians recalled how Duran Duran's glossy image often overshadowed their sense of humour. According to Rhodes, audiences and critics didn't always grasp the irony running through their music videos, from "Rio" to "A View To A Kill". Having grown up on Monty Python and the great British TV comedies of the 1970s, the band members never took themselves entirely seriously, not even when they were topping the charts worldwide.
After all, ambition and glamour had been part of the project from the very beginning. Le Bon recalls a conversation with John Taylor, shortly after joining the band, when he voiced some concern about the group's alternative credibility. The bassist's reply was illuminating: "Simon, Duran Duran have roughly the same street cred as Chanel N° 19." The singer realised then that this would be their path, far removed from punk orthodoxy and the conventions of more po-faced rock.

The success of "Rio" in 1982 turned Duran Duran into a worldwide phenomenon, with music videos shot in exotic locations, yachts, designer outfits, and run-ins with Andy Warhol and international models. A world of luxury and celebrity that also drew the attention of the tabloid press, helping to cement an image that was often dismissed as superficial. But Duran Duran claim a far tougher mettle than their looks might suggest: "We look like delicate little things, all made up, but actually we're really tough." A statement that sums up the paradox of their career: behind the elegance, the make-up and the pop-idol image lies a band capable of weathering criticism, passing fads, periods of commercial decline and personal hardships, while continuing to reinvent itself without losing its identity.
More than forty years after the explosion of Duranmania, the band continues to claim the right to have fun and escape other people's expectations. The Halloween shows, with their blend of nostalgia, self-deprecating humour and love of transformation, are perhaps the most effective summary of this philosophy: not disowning their past, but continuing to reinvent it without worrying too much about looking fashionable.

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