Duran Duran are filling the Fontainebleau’s BleauLive Theater with hits past and present, debuting their new single “Free to Love” while band members also talk openly about Andy Taylor’s prostate cancer and what it means to keep touring.
The BleauLive Theater at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas was already roaring when Duran Duran hit “Hungry Like the Wolf.” By the time the band launched into their new song. the crowd wasn’t just singing along—it was leaning into the moment. as if the past and the present were sharing the same stage lights.
The four core members—bassist John Taylor. frontman Simon Le Bon. drummer Roger Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes—are in their 60s. but the takeover run through the theater has the same unmistakable pop-star energy that once defined them. Their set has been heavy on ’80s and ’90s staples such as “The Reflex” and “Ordinary World. ” with recent-era tracks like “Invisible” and “What Happens Tomorrow.”.
Then came the surprise, delivered with a declaration from Le Bon to a sold-out room: “We have a new single.” He framed it as something both personal and upbeat—“It’s about the greatest freedom of all – being free to love.”
Duran Duran used that introduction to steer the night into “Free to Love. ” performing it with longtime guitarist Dom Brown. backup singers Anna Ross and Rachael O’Connor and saxophonist Simon Willescroft. The band credits frequent collaborator Nile Rodgers with the song’s writing. and the track is built around a Chic-like bassline. In the visuals. the accompanying video leans into homage—paying tribute to “Top of the Pops. ” the long-running British record chart show that ran until its 2006 demise and became. for many fans. a formative music TV touchstone comparable to “American Bandstand.”.
Behind the band, the video concept is its own headline. Rhodes said he’s been especially excited because Duran Duran actually performed on “Top of the Pops” several times during their ’80s and ’90s peak. His plan. he said. was to recreate not just the vibe of the show. but also the camera work and the number of people dancing in the audience—while adding a dash of “Soul Train” to the look of the clip.
Rhodes described the moment as a generational bridge, too. “There’s a generation of people out there who never experienced ‘Top of the Pops.’ Some of the comments we’re getting from younger fans are. ‘What is this show the video is based on?’ I never thought I’d see the day when we looked at (‘TOTP’) so fondly and we genuinely do. ” he said. He added that the show once brought families together on TV at 7 p.m. on a Friday—something he said has faded with the spread of the internet.
Le Bon and John Taylor both connected the band’s message to the dance floor rather than today’s headlines. Le Bon spoke earlier. before singing “What Happens Tomorrow” in a separate moment during the set. about how the group learned early not to make music explicitly political. Taylor echoed the creative goal behind “Free to Love. ” saying it was “written as a summer song. a let’s-get-together song. which are not always easy to write.”.
In his view, disco music carries its own language: “in disco music, you don’t have to say that much. The message is in the music. very upbeat and positive and that’s just the way we are.” Taylor also stressed that Duran Duran isn’t trying to write specifically about current events—preferring their songs aimed at the dance floor.
That focus has shaped other parts of their public identity as well. For the past several years. Taylor has recorded online tutorials called “Stone Love Bass Odyssey. ” where he breaks down bass techniques from Duran Duran songs. talks music theory and highlights funk influences. He hopes the work shows the organic origins of collaboration. arguing that technology can help individuals create music. but it can’t replace what happens when people negotiate and build together.
“If you’re a bass player, you’ve got to be working with others,” he said. He also pushed back on how music is increasingly “programmed” instead of “performed. ” describing it as a trend the band is trying to resist. He said he wants “the fingerprints all over the work” and the feel of a band—adding. “Don’t even try getting into a conversation with Simon about AI and lyrics. It’s his craft – it’s all of our crafts – so we’re sort of vying with the times.”.
The night’s celebration carried a more serious thread. too—one Taylor addressed with the kind of candor that comes from having lived with uncertainty for years. In 2022, original guitarist Andy Taylor revealed a prostate cancer diagnosis. He had left the band in 1986, returned from 2001 to 2006, and later contributed to 2023’s “Danse Macabre” album.
When Duran Duran received Rock & Roll Hall of Fame recognition in 2022. fans were surprised to hear from Andy Taylor during the induction speeches. He said that four years earlier he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that his treatments prevented him from traveling from Europe to Los Angeles to be with his bandmates.
At this latest stretch of talks, Rhodes didn’t offer an extensive update on Andy Taylor’s condition, but he did sound upbeat. “from the last reports, (Andy’s) holding in there with new treatments. So far, so good. Fingers crossed. It’s not gone away, but it’s being managed,” Rhodes said.
For now, the band is keeping the pace the crowd came for. Their U.S. dates in this current run included a few shows in California and Phoenix early in the year. a performance at BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach. California. and four shows in Las Vegas—part of the recent multi-show takeover of BleauLive Theater at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. That Las Vegas stretch will have to tide fans over for a bit.
Asked if more North American dates are planned after a series of overseas summer shows, Taylor answered plainly: “Not this year.” He said he’s looking forward to next year for more touring.
Even with the reality of gaps between legs of a tour. both Taylor and Rhodes see Las Vegas as more than a stop on a map. Taylor pointed to how much the city has changed since his first visit in 1988. when he remembered it as largely centered on entertainment icons like Wayne Newton. He recalled playing the opening of the Hard Rock Hotel in 1995. which he said “changed the game.” He added that Vegas was chasing a different kind of crowd—potentially people who “don’t gamble at all”—and that playing the city regularly has been “really good for us.”.
Rhodes agreed. describing the city’s shift away from the old stereotype of lounge singers and toward a more sophisticated entertainment scene. He remembered when Vegas felt like “one giant shopping mall and junk food,” and he called that reputation negative. Now, he said, Vegas has become a destination where top artists play often enough to attract different audiences every night. “There are great people there who really understand entertainment. Not just the shows, but the restaurants. You can play as often as you want and you’ll get a different crowd every night. It’s become a destination for so many artists to play. We’re big fans.”.
Duran Duran BleauLive Theater Fontainebleau Las Vegas Free to Love Andy Taylor prostate cancer Top of the Pops Nile Rodgers Xerjoff NeoRio