Duran Duran’s comeback will continue without the services of Andy Taylor. The band’s founding guitarist has split with the band again, this time ahead of a string of U.S. dates, beginning tonight (Oct. 26) in Chicago, due to a “gulf” developing in their partnership.
According to a statement on behalf of remaining members Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and John and Roger Taylor (the Taylors are unrelated), the band was “disappointed and saddened” by the development, but would push on into its “next chapter.”
“As of last weekend,” reads the statement, “the four of us have dissolved our partnership and will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together.”
A spokesperson for the band confirmed Dom Brown would replace Taylor on the upcoming American shows, which are slated to run until Nov. 11.
Rhodes recently told Billboard.com that the band was planning to enter the studio later this year, to record a new Epic album due out in the first quarter of 2007. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland will contribute to the as-yet-untitled album, which is the follow-up to the 2004 album “Astronaut.” That set has shifted more than two million copies worldwide, according to a spokesperson.
Taylor played guitar on the Duran Duran’s first three studio albums but left in 1986 after minimal participation on the 1986 effort “Notorious.” He rejoined the band in 2001.
The artist also enjoyed international chart hits in the mid-1980s with “Some Like it Hot” and “Get It On” as a member of supergroup the Power Station, along with frontman Robert Palmer and drummer Tony Thompson (both of whom have since passed away) and Duran Duran bandmate John Taylor. He has also recorded as a solo artist.