Duran Duran’s John Taylor Believes Music Groups Are Going Extinct

Duran Duran bassist John Taylor thinks music groups are a dying breed.

“[The] day of the group is almost gone,” the rocker declared during a panel at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy. “Were there any groups at the Grammys this year?”

A glance at this year’s Grammy nominees certainly backs up Taylor’s observation. Though the rock categories still featured plenty of groups – such as Metallica, the Rolling Stones, Green Day and Pearl Jam – the major categories were dominated by solo artists like Chappell Roan, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish. As Taylor noted, the shift from groups to solo acts stands in stark contrast to the musical landscape when Duran Duran started.

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“We grew up in the Sixties and Seventies and we saw that dynamic play out onstage and on record, where you have equal partners bringing something special to everything that they do, and we haven’t found a way of improving on that,” he explained. “There’s something very special about our chemistry with each other.”

How Duran Duran Have Stayed Together So Long

Echoing his bandmates’ views, frontman Simon Le Bon shared what has kept Duran Duran together for over 40 years.

“First of all, we love the music we make together – nobody else makes music like we do,” he noted. “We’ve tried doing things on our own, and it just doesn’t seem to be as exciting as when the four of us get together and work.”

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“We make each other laugh,” the singer continued. “I think that’s really important in a long relationship. When we’re under stress, we laugh our way through it and it keeps everything light and fun. And the other thing is, we split all the proceeds equally… we all share equally in the finances.”