Andy Taylor (guitarist)
Andrew James Taylor (born 16 February 1961) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of Duran Duran and the Power Station. He has also recorded and performed as a solo artist, and served as a guitarist, songwriter, and record producer for the likes of Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart, the Almighty, Thunder, Love and Money, Mark Shaw, Then Jerico, C. C. Catch, Paul Rodgers (with the Law), Belinda Carlisle, and Gun.[1]
For other people named Andrew Taylor, see Andrew Taylor (disambiguation).
Andy Taylor
Andrew James Taylor
16 February 1961
Tynemouth, Northumberland, England
- Musician
- producer
- songwriter
- Guitar
- vocals
- 1980–2006
- 2019–present
History[edit]
Background / early musical career[edit]
Andrew Taylor was born in Tynemouth[2] and raised in the town of Cullercoats, Northumberland in North East England, and attended Marden High School.[3] He began playing guitar at the age of eleven and was soon playing with local bands, even producing one at the age of 16. He received guitar tuition from Dave Black, a member of the short-lived, post-David Bowie version of Bowie's sometime backing band The Spiders from Mars.[4] He dropped out of school early to tour England and Europe with several different bands, playing working men's clubs and air force bases.[3] Then in April 1980, as Taylor puts it, "I made that fateful train journey down to Birmingham."
Duran Duran[edit]
Duran Duran began their rise to fame at a Birmingham club named the Rum Runner. The club was owned by their managers and mentors, brothers Paul and Michael Berrow. It was centred on the music and ostentatious fashion of the era, particularly disco music, which had fused with punk and electronic to create the sound and look adopted by various "New Romantic" acts of the time.
Andy Taylor joined the band in April 1980 and has been credited for playing a vital role in shaping and developing their early songs, working creatively with Nick Rhodes playing around the keyboardist's patterns and solidifying the melodies, and assisting in forming the band's "rough, undisciplined mixture[s]" of punk, disco and electronic styles into tight, cohesive structures.[5]
The band signed to EMI Records in December 1980, only seven months after completing their line-up. Their debut single "Planet Earth" was released shortly after that, with their self-titled debut album, Duran Duran, released in June 1981. By 1983, the band was a global success story.
Personal life[edit]
In 2022, Taylor stated that he has been married to his wife Tracey for 40 years. They have four children.[14] The couple currently reside in Ibiza, Spain.[14]
When Duran Duran were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, Taylor was unable to attend the ceremony. During the event, Simon Le Bon read part of a letter that Taylor had written revealing he had been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer four years prior and a recent setback kept him from attending.[15] The letter was later posted to the band's website, in which Taylor said his condition is incurable but not immediately life-threatening.[14]