Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor leaves band due to tinnitus

‘I must now listen to my body and my doctors’, says Taylor, who was one of the earliest members of the new wave hit-makers

The drummer for Duran Duran, Roger Taylor, is to step down from the band due to worsening tinnitus.

In a statement, Taylor said: “This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Playing drums in this band has been the joy of my life, and I’ll never be able to properly thank the fans for the love they’ve shown us over the years. But the truth is that my tinnitus has been getting steadily worse, and I’ve reached the point where I must now listen to my body and my doctors.”

Taylor spoke warmly of Duran Duran’s recent UK and Europe tour, their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and a return to the studio with Chic bandleader Nile Rodgers, with whom the band previously collaborated on songs such as Notorious.

“Figuring out the timing of all of this has not been easy, but I’m going out on a real high,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better final chapter, with so many special moments that I’ll treasure for ever. I move on with enormous pride.”

He added that he had “nothing but love” for his bandmates Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor.

Taylor was one of the earliest members of the band with Rhodes and John Taylor, later joined by Le Bon and guitarist Andy Taylor. He played on the band’s sensationally popular first three albums between 1981 and 1983, which were transatlantic hits and helped to usher in an entire style of glossy new wave pop.

But after playing Live Aid with the group, Taylor left, later explaining: “It sounds like a cliche, but I needed to get to know myself. Because, when you’re in a band like that, you’re very much recognised for being part of the whole. You can lose yourself.”

He briefly rejoined the band in 1994, then permanently in 2001, recording six more albums beginning with 2004’s Astronaut and culminating with Danse Macabre in 2023.