The original Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor was supposed to join his former band members in their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles. However, battling stage four metastatic prostate cancer, Taylor could not travel from Ibiza, Spain, to be with his band due to his health status. Shaken by his dear friend’s recent health update, Simon LeBon shared backstage in the press room that it was devastating to know that a family member would not be there with them.
Duran Duran honored dear friend Taylor while reading portions of an acceptance speech letter during the ceremony. After the ceremony, Simon LeBon shared his feelings about the heartbreaking news about Taylor’s health condition. “It is devastating news to find out that a colleague… not a colleague — a friend, one of our family — is not going to be around for very long. It is absolutely devastating. We love Andy dearly. I’m not going to stand here and cry or anything, that would be inappropriate, but that’s what I feel like.”
After more questions about Taylor, LeBon went, “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, can we not go back to it, please,” displaying his devastation to talk about the subject any further. Although the band members were aware of Taylor’s diagnosis, they hoped to be on stage with him on one of the biggest days of their careers, but the guitarist’s health condition wouldn’t allow him to travel to Los Angeles.
Even though Andy Taylor couldn’t make it to the ceremony, the guitarist was there with his bandmates with the letter and the thoughtful words he had written to acknowledge the moment they were able to share together. During the speech letter, Taylor also mentioned the excitement he had to be back on stage with his former bandmates; he had even bought a new guitar for the occasion.
