{"id":659067,"date":"2026-11-12T21:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T21:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/659067\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T21:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T21:48:17","slug":"duran-durans-roger-taylor-steps-down-retires-from-playing-drums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/659067\/","title":{"rendered":"Duran Duran&#8217;s Roger Taylor steps down, retires from playing drums"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A founding-era member of English pop-rock band Duran Duran is stepping away from the gig. Roger Taylor will hang up his drumsticks following a diagnosis of tinnitus, which has worsened of late, the band announced on its website and socials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of the hardest decisions I\u2019ve ever had to make,\u201d Taylor said in a statement. \u201cPlaying drums in this band has been the joy of my life, and I\u2019ll never be able to properly thank the fans for the love they\u2019ve shown us over the years. But the truth is that my tinnitus has been getting steadily worse, and I\u2019ve reached the point where I must now listen to my body and my doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            <img class=\"image\" alt=\"Five men in 1980s-style clothing are seen from shoulders up grouped in a circle.\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"1196\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1794520096_177_.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>         <\/p>\n<p>British band Duran Duran photographed in London in 1981: (clockwise from top left) Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor and John Taylor.<\/p>\n<p>(Michael Putland \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Founded in Birmingham in 1978 by keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor, Duran Duran welcomed its remaining core members in 1980 when Roger, along with Simon Le Bon on vocals and Andy Taylor on guitar, joined the group. (Roger, John and Andy are not related.) Duran Duran would go on to become a leading band in the \u201cNew Romantic\u201d movement with hits including \u201cPlanet Earth,\u201d \u201cGirls on Film,\u201d \u201cHungry Like the Wolf,\u201d \u201cRio,\u201d \u201cUnion of the Snake,\u201d \u201cThe Wild Boys,\u201d \u201cNotorious\u201d and \u201cThe Reflex,\u201d which hit No. 1 in the U.S. along with their title track on the 1985 James Bond film soundtrack, \u201cA View to a Kill.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFiguring out the timing of all of this has not been easy,\u201d Roger said, \u201cbut I\u2019m going out on a real high. We\u2019ve just returned from a hugely successful UK and European tour, which followed our second headline show at BST Hyde Park, our induction into the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame, and a return to the studio with Nile Rodgers. I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better final chapter, with so many special moments that I\u2019ll treasure forever. I move on with enormous pride, and with nothing but love for Simon, Nick and John.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>           <img id=\"yt-img-nTizYn3-QN0\" class=\"absolute\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1794520097_649_hqdefault.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/>                 <\/p>\n<p>Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor added: \u201cRoger is our brother. His drumming helped define the sound of Duran Duran from the very beginning and having him back with us since 2001 has been incredibly important to us all. We completely support his decision and wish him health and happiness. He will always be part of this family, while we continue exploring new and exciting projects with the band.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A founding-era member of English pop-rock band Duran Duran is stepping away from the gig. Roger Taylor will&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[322879,23930,258433,430,57443,203404,156,322880,5126,2882,111,139,6933,69,1629,36783,86167,322878,38992,82524],"class_list":["post-659067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-andy-taylor","tag-band","tag-bst-hyde-park","tag-celebrities","tag-drum","tag-duran-duran","tag-entertainment","tag-hard-decision","tag-john","tag-love","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nick","tag-nz","tag-rock","tag-roger-taylor","tag-roll-hall","tag-simon-le-bon","tag-tinnitus","tag-vocal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}