Andy Taylor at home in Ibiza (Image: )<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n As the headstrong guitarist in one of the biggest pop groups in the world, Andy Taylor walked out on Duran Duran twice. But their bond remains so strong they\u2019ve paid for the cancer treatment helping him defy the odds and return to a pain-free life.<\/p>\n Taylor has been living with stage four prostate cancer since 2018.<\/p>\n His diagnosis is terminal. But the man with a hand in chart smashes such as Rio, Planet Earth and Hungry Like The Wolf has enjoyed remarkable benefits from pioneering private treatment in London.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Daily Express, Taylor reveals: \u201cI don\u2019t have any pain. The medicine is working and I\u2019m asymptomatic. I\u2019ve still got a way to go, but I\u2019m pretty free of it all. If I had pain, I\u2019d know about it, but I don\u2019t need the painkillers I used to have to take. My balance is better too.\u201d<\/p>\n The treatment he is having was developed in Germany and involves the intravenous administration of radioactive chemicals.<\/p>\n It was pioneered by Christopher Evans, a Welsh scientist and biotech entrepreneur, and isn\u2019t available on the NHS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n READ MORE <\/strong> Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras movie smashes Marvel box office record weeks before release <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Simon LeBon and Andy Taylor in concert (Image: Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n But, as Taylor explains today, Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon insisted the band helped pay for his care.<\/p>\n The 62-year-old reveals: \u201cSimon called me up one day and said, \u2018I want to help you with this. You\u2019ve been off the scene for quite a few years. Let us help.\u2019 That\u2019s what mates are for and I\u2019d do the same for Simon.\u201d<\/p>\n Laughing about rumours that he and Le Bon had feuded since Taylor quit the band in 2006, he jokes: \u201cSimon offering to do that \u2013 that\u2019s how much we hate each other.\u201d He and Duran Duran are now helping to raise funds for cancer charity CRIS.<\/p>\n Despite the group\u2019s flamboyant image as they conquered the 1980s, Taylor was the band\u2019s quiet man in public. And he kept his cancer diagnosis private until he was forced to go public last November \u2013 to explain his absence in rejoining Duran Duran when they were inducted into the prestigious Rock And Roll Hall Taylor wrote a moving letter to his bandmates: Le Bon, bassist John Taylor, keyboard player Nick Rhodes and drummer Roger Taylor. He explained he was too ill to travel from his home in Ibiza to the ceremony in Ohio.<\/p>\n He admits: \u201cI was so sad I couldn\u2019t go to the ceremony. I thought, \u2018This should be the biggest celebration of our career and I\u2019ve let them down.\u2019 I only told them I was ill three days before as I didn\u2019t admit to myself I couldn\u2019t go until the last possible minute.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Le Bon read the letter out at the starry do, thus revealing his former bandmate\u2019s illness to the world as he tuned in to watch.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was so powerful,\u201d says Taylor, looking upbeat as he speaks with frankness about his condition and his career. His man-bun bounces with enthusiasm as he talks over Zoom from his lounge.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Simon was reading the letter, I looked at John and I was utterly blown away by how he maintained his composure. He\u2019s always been a class act.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor had begun recording his latest solo album \u2013 his last was 1990\u2019s LP of covers, Dangerous \u2013 shortly before his diagnosis.<\/p>\n Man\u2019s A Wolf To Man, out on Friday, is catchy and imaginative. But it was the return to singing after years as a guest guitarist and producer, including for Sir Rod Stewart, that led to Taylor discovering he had cancer.<\/p>\n He recalls: \u201cI was suddenly unable to reach certain notes. I went to see a throat specialist, who said my voice was 100% OK. Three weeks later, I found lumps on my throat and a test told me I had cancer. I thought, \u2018Damn, so that\u2019s what has been messing with my vocals!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Andy, Simon, Nick, John and Roger take New York (Image: Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n Further checks revealed the cancer had spread from his prostate. Taylor credits his wife, Tracey, with helping him stay strong since his diagnosis. The couple, who have four children, have been married for 40 years. \u201cWhen we got together, it was terrible for Tracey to try to keep up with the 22-year-old Andy Taylor,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t see that at the time. Now I\u2019m the 62-year-old Andy Taylor, my wife means more to me than ever. She\u2019s a bloody miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n Feeling that Duran Duran had achieved all a band possibly could, Taylor first left in 1985 following Live Aid.<\/p>\n On the day of that monumental charity gig \u2013 when they played the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia \u2013 Taylor admits: \u201cI drank white wine and rose until it was coming out of my ears.\u201d He reflects: \u201cDuran weren\u2019t in good shape by then. Roger particularly wasn\u2019t in good shape and that day really brought home to me how bad our situation was.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy believes that with more support he could have been persuaded to stay, noting: \u201cThat\u2019s the point where the music industry should have stepped in to help. I\u2019ll take all the bullets I deserve for leaving the band.<\/p>\n \u201cBut all the industry people who\u2019d dined on Duran Duran since the start, when it was time for them to stand up and help us, they weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Simon Le Bon, with Roger, Nick and John, revealed the guitarist\u2019s illness (Image: )<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n It was a frustrating exit for a musician who grew up in Newcastle and first picked up a guitar aged nine. He says: \u201cPlaying guitar to my dad\u2019s Glen Campbell albums was the best decision I ever made in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor moved to Birmingham after successfully auditioning for Duran Duran, who had begun to get noticed on the local scene even before Le Bon \u2013 a Londoner \u2013 joined. That was shortly after Andy became the band\u2019s third unrelated Taylor.<\/p>\n Their colourful appearance and fanbase of teenage girls made Duran Duran the target of snooty music critics.<\/p>\n But Taylor points out: \u201cJohn and Nick were punk fans. In a music scene of synthesiser heaven, we kept an edge. Me being a guitarist meant we could stay a live band, which gave us an edge over a lot of the synth groups.\u201d<\/p>\n Before officially announcing his departure, Andy and John formed rock-oriented The Power Station, with singer Robert Palmer, plus Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson of disco pioneers Chic.<\/p>\n The new band enjoyed huge success in the US but both Taylors became party animals and The Power Station were soon infamous for their hedonistic lifestyle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Andy confesses: \u201cAt the end of a tour, I said to John, \u2018We\u2019ve got to stop doing this, or one of us is going to die.\u2019\u201d John got clean in 1994. His old pal smiles: \u201cHe is on the path of sobriety and I\u2019m on the right side of being a good boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy then produced two platinum-selling albums for Sir Rod and worked with rockers Reef, before rejoining Duran Duran in 2002. He quit again four years later, disagreeing with his bandmates\u2019 decision to work with hip-hop producer Timbaland.<\/p>\n Mostly living quietly in Ibiza with his family, Man\u2019s A Wolf To Man helped Taylor regain his creativity. Its title track was inspired by Donald Trump \u2013 who Duran Duran knew in their heyday.<\/p>\n He reveals: \u201cTrump was this orange man who everyone avoided at red carpet events. When we got our MTV lifetime achievement award, we were one ahead of him on the red carpet. We were saying to each other, \u2018Hurry up! Quick, we don\u2019t want him catching up with us.\u2019 Trump was never our class of person.\u201d<\/p>\n Making the new album also helped him come to terms with his cancer. Taylor reasons: \u201cWhen I\u2019m in dire straits emotionally, music is something so rich and creative. It lifts me psychologically and balances the grim reaper sat on my shoulder. I\u2019ve had small bouts of therapy since my diagnosis, but music has been my main therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside his own album, Taylor has also had another reconciliation with Duran Duran. He plays on 10 songs on their new Halloween-themed album Danse Macabre, out on October 27. Taylor\u2019s replacement in the band, American guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, plays on two other tracks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Andy Taylor\u2019s new album Man\u2019s A Wolf To Man (Image: Andy Taylor)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n Of his return, Taylor beams: \u201cWe\u2019d always maintained a gentlemanly approach to each other after I left. Verbally, we used to kill each other. The Gallaghers had nothing on us, but we all respected the boundaries and agreed we shouldn\u2019t publicly air any grievances. And when I got to a point of needing the band: man, they were there.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving two albums out at this point of my life is bloody marvellous. Having a solo deal at my age is mad anyway, then to have a reconciled Duran album is more than I could have wished for.\u201d<\/p>\n He is open to working with Duran Duran again, though he doesn\u2019t want to rejoin full-time, noting: \u201cThe other four have a defined structure that works for them. In football terms, I\u2019d be coming in like a wild Ronaldo and they\u2019d have to change shape to play me.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if there was something that could work for all of us and the fanbase, I\u2019d be up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, with his health appearing more positive, Taylor is hoping for an emotional return to playing live. He emphasises he has to be cautious, but says: \u201cI\u2019m really enjoying playing guitar again. I\u2019m taking small steps to get back to the point where I can hang out and play onstage with a band again, without my health feeling compromised in any way. That will take a while, but I\u2019m in really good nick.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be able to keep up with other musicians without having to say, \u2018Whoa, I need a cup of tea.\u2019 If I can do that \u2013 that\u2019d be fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n [ad_1] Andy Taylor at home in Ibiza (Image: ) As the headstrong guitarist in one of the biggest pop groups in the world, Andy Taylor walked out on Duran Duran twice. But their bond remains so strong they\u2019ve paid for the cancer treatment helping him defy the odds and return to a pain-free life. Taylor …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[766],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/35\/590x\/secondary\/4939507.jpg?r=1693609739293\" "\\"Andy")
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