Andy Taylor, A Former Member Of Duran Duran, Will Not Be Inducted Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Due To Stage 4 Cancer.

Andy Taylor was expected to attend Duran Duran’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles tonight (Saturday, Nov. 5). Following a medley of their hits, current members Simon LeBon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor took the stage and explained his absence.

Taylor departed the band in 1986. He returned in 2001 and performed guitar on Astronaut in 2004, before departing again in 2006.

The text of his letter is included below.

Dear Simon, John, Roger, Nick, and the rest of my fellow inductees and countrymen:

I wanted to send a personal email to express my gratitude to you all for what has been an incredible career, as well as to relate what has occurred to me.

To begin, I want to express how much of an honour it was to be nominated, let alone inducted, into the RRHOF. Nothing comes close to this level of acclaim. I’m pleased of what we’ve accomplished together and the way you’ve carried on. As a guitarist in a progressive band since the early synth days of the 1980s, Nick, John, Simon, and Roger have always cherished the contribution of a very boisterous, adaptable Northern brat. We all grew up listening to the same vinyl records and seeing the same live shows, from David Bowie to Roxy Music, The Sex Pistols, and, of course, CHIC. As a player, I could go to all of those locations and construct a hybrid guitar style that fit this fantastic notion OF A BAND…

I really enjoyed going into the studio and recording our material since no one else sounded like us. We were ready to learn the art of analogue recording, but with different gear. Nick’s artistic obsession with synth technology was something I’d never seen before, and I was introduced to layers. We matured rapidly because we were naturally the right fit, composing RIO as our second album with the confidence that our early success with ‘Girls On Film’ and ‘Planet Earth’ inspired.

The good news is that there is no bad blood, only genuine love and admiration for all we wrote, recorded, and accomplished together. What exactly is the point? This 44-year phenomenon known as “Duran Duran” is unstoppable.

Now, here’s why I’m not here:

I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer just over four years ago. Many families have felt the gradual burn of this cancer, and we are no exception; hence, I speak from the perspective of a family man, but with profound humility to the band, the best fans a band could have, and this incredible honour.

I have the Rodgers and Edwards of doctors and medical therapy, which has allowed me to just rock on until recently. My current ailment is not life threatening, yet there is no cure. I was doing well after some extremely advanced life-extending treatment until about a week ago when I suffered a setback, and despite the amazing efforts of my team, I had to be honest in that I would be pushing my bounds both physically and psychologically.

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