Duran Duran’s drummer Roger Taylor has announced he’s stepping down from his Grammy-winning pop-rock band and retiring from live performances following a recent tinnitus diagnosis.
In a statement shared on Duran Duran’s official social media pages, Taylor described his exit from the spotlight as “one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
“Playing drums in this band has been the joy of my life, and I’ll never be able to properly thank the fans for the love they’ve shown us over the years,” the 66-year-old said. “But the truth is that my tinnitus has been getting steadily worse, and I’ve reached the point where I must now listen to my body and my doctors.”
He went on to note: “Figuring out the timing of all of this has not been easy, but I’m going out on a real high.”
Tinnitus, often associated with hearing loss, is the perception of sound ― typically described as a ringing or buzzing ― when no externaland Other Communication Disorders, tinnitus can present as an acute or chronic health condition and can be debilitating. At present, there is no cure, but there are ways to reduce symptoms
A native of Birmingham, England, Taylor began drumming at age 12 and played in a number of punk and new wave bands in the late 1970s.
In 1980, he joined Duran Duran, which became one of the premier bands of the decade thanks to era-defining songs like “Girls on Film” and “Hungry Like The Wolf.”
The group was also one of the earliest to adapt to MTV, and the music video for their 1982 single “Rio” ― filmed aboard a yacht in the Caribbean ― is often ranked alongside Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” as one of the best of all time.
Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Andy Taylor in 1984.
Fin Costello
Taylor previously quitDuran Duran during its heyday in 1985, citing burnout from the music industry, only to rejoin in 2001. “I’d been on 1,000 airplanes, but I didn’t know how to get on one as an individual,” he recalled in a 2004 interviewwith The New York Times. “I had to relearn life.”
Duran Duran was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 and has enjoyed a professional resurgence in recent years. This past spring, the band unveiled “Free to Love,” a new collaboration with legendary musician Nile Rodgers, and embarked on a European tour of the same name, which wrapped last week in Madrid.
Taylor pointed to some of the band’s recent milestones in his Thursday statement, noting: “I couldn’t have asked for a better final chapter, with so many special moments that I’ll treasure forever.”
In remarks included with Taylor’s statement, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor said they plan to “continue exploring new and exciting projects with the band,” but offered no further details.
