EXCLUSIVE: Simon Le Bon, musician I spent a day in Belgrade that I will remember forever I’ve been to the bars, to the clubs and the restaurants, and I’ve been up to the fortress and the park, but the one experience that stays with me more than any other was a river trip that we took on a hot, sunny day... F ew bands made the kind of impact that Du- ran Duran achieved in the 1980s. This British new wave band quickly inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 serves to prove that Duran Duran’s music has had a notable impact on today’s culture and rock & roll scene. Much of the band’s success came after the arriv- al of its charismatic frontman, Si- mon Le Bon. A man known for his good looks, eloquent lyrics, unique voice and trendsetting fashions, speaking in this exclusive Elevate interview, Le Bon recalls how it all started more than 40 years ago... became synonymous with catchy pop-rock tunes, fantastical lyrics and cutting-edge style. Decades lat- er, the band’s music still endures. So many brilliant songs – like Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf, and Girls on Film – remain popular to this day, while the fact that the band was
You were compared to the Beatles and called the Fab five... How do you remem- ber those years? “Amazing days. Every part of our early career was amazing. I re- member going to New York City af- ter we had just released our first video compilation. There was a launch at the Video Shack store in Manhattan and we were sup- posed to arrive around midday. But by 10:30 there was so many fans on the street that they had to close the road and have six mounted New York policemen on horses to con- trol the crowd. We watched it all on the news before actually going to the store. It was crazy and that was when we first realised the kind of level of interest that Duran Du- ran was triggering.” While you were study- ing drama, at the recom- mendation of a girlfriend, you turned up for the au-
Interview » Intervju | 31
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