Andy Taylor credits the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for saving his life after he was forced to miss Duran Duran’s induction last November.
The guitarist – who appeared in the group’s classic line-up alongside Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor – had planned to reunite with the band for a hits performance and to collect the accolade, but missed the event at short notice when his condition worsened.
“I bought a hat and put a new guitar together, because we were going to do some old Duran numbers – and the first time I saw it was this Monday,” the musician tells RETROPOP’s October issue.
“At the time, I was on palliative end of life care, which is when the medication starts and you’re onto the not so nice stuff,” he recalls, admitting: “I didn’t really understand my options until I didn’t go to the biggest night of my life.”
Now, he’s feeling much more sprightly since trialling a revolutionary new treatment, revealing opening up about the condition led to several doctors and specialists reaching out to him with alternatives.
“I started a new treatment several weeks ago, which is pretty incredible. It’s a nuclear medicine and it only targets cancer cells,” he says. “Treatments like chemotherapy can’t distinguish, so this makes quite a difference because there’s no real side effects.”
Naturally, health was Andy’s first priority, but he had other considerations while selecting the best treatment. “This is very sophisticated because it works without injuring the rest of your body,” he notes. “As a guitarist, [other treatments] can ruin your fingers and I’ve had to avoid that for five years. Otherwise, what would I do…”
This month, he’ll return to the spotlight with the release of ‘Man’s A Wolf To Man’ – his first solo LP in more than 30 years – which was born when the musician was approached by BMG CEO, Hartwig Masuch, who put forward the idea of the record.
“He’s a big fan of Duran and all my solo stuff – his knowledge of what I’ve done is phenomenal! So he said, ‘Do you want to make a record? A solo record or maybe a [Duran Duran side project] Power Station record?’,” Andy recalls, revealing: “I did contact John, but at the time the Duran thing was happening and he was too busy, so we dropped that idea and I just said, ‘I’m gonna put it out as a solo record’.”
That’s not all – due in October, Duran Duran’s 15th album, ‘Danse Macabre’, sees Andy return to the fold, along with former guitarist, Warren Cuccurullo, and Nile Rodgers, for a selection of covers, re-recordings and new original songs.
Although speaking before news of the record broke, Andy’s quick to share his anticipation surrounding the new project. “We’re both on BMG and the label has supported me for a long time, which is quite rare, and I’ve never been one to screw up good relationships with people in the business. They’re just very hard to find,” he smiles.
“So there’s a lot of stuff coming out and I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to put something together. My album should have come out a little bit earlier, but we put it back and the two are going to exist sort of in the same space. But hey, I don’t think I don’t think that’s a bad thing…”
Reflecting on his history with the band, he adds: “When they announced the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nomination, it felt good that it was a picture of the five of us, because the definitive aspect of how any of us got wherever we are is down to what the five of us did when we first got together.
“It’s down to the fact that, including The Power Station and Arcadia, we did five albums in five years. And that’s why all of us are where we are today…”
