After two years of searching, Duran Duran founding members Nick Rhodes (keyboard) and John Taylor (bass) finalised their line up with Roger Taylor on drums, Andy Taylor on guitar and Simon LeBon adding vocals. They began work on their first record, 'Duran Duran'.
They released their first single, 'Planet Earth', in 1981 off of their eponymous debut LP. It entered UK Top 20 and the album reached number three selling in excess of 2.5 million copies.
The band then made the first extended video to accompany the dance mix of their song 'Girls on Film'. It was directed by Godley and Crème and met with much controversy. At this point, Duran Duran supported Blondie on their US tour. Their newly released record 'Rio' spawned three UK Top 10 hits - 'Hungry Like the Wolf', 'Save a Prayer', and 'Rio'.
Spectacular music videos followed as the band headed to Sri Lanka with director Russell Mulcahy to film videos for 'Save A Prayer', 'Hungry Like the Wolf' and 'Lonely in your Nightmare'. They then headed on Antigua to film 'Rio'.
MTV grabbed hold of 'Hungry like the Wolf', which later became one of the 15 most played videos ever. On the back of this, the US discovered Duran Duran and sent 'Hungry Like the Wolf' and 'Rio' into the Top 10.
'Seven and the Ragged Tiger', the group's third album, hit UK number one spot in 1983 and the first single, 'Union of the Snake', exploded around the world. The LP spawned two further hit singles, 'New Moon on Monday' and 'The Reflex', which became their first US number one.
Following this success, Duran Duran undertook a major US arena tour. They were the first act to utilise live video cameras and screens in their show.
In 1985, Duran Duran performed at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the Live Aid charity event. It turned out to be the last performance featuring the original line up - as Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor left the band soon after.
Warren Cuccurullo, formerly of Frank Zappa's band and Missing Persons, took over as guitarist.
By 1989, ten years of Duran Duran were documented by both an album and video entitled 'Decade'. The mega-mix 'Burning the Ground' captured some of their finest recorded moments. Warren Cuccurullo became a permanent member of Duran Duran, as they release their sixth studio album, 'Liberty'.
Some years later, Duran Duran became one of the first bands to play in South Africa after the end of apartheid. The band were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for this and their musical career.
In 1995, the band changed direction again, releasing 'Thank You', an album of covers. To mark the record, they performed rap classic 'White Lines' on the Late Show With David Letterman, accompanied by Grand Master Flash, Melle Mel and the Furious Five.
After the departure of founding member John Taylor, the group continued to perform and release albums. They even contributed a song to the soundtrack of the motion picture 'The Saint' and performed in Italy for the Bosnian War Child charity.
After 17 years on the edge of music and technology, Duran Duran made yet another break through by becoming the first band in the history of the internet to offer a digital download of one of their songs.
Then in 2000, John Taylor approached Le Bon and Rhodes with an idea to re-form Duran Duran's classic line-up. They agreed, and let Cuccurullo leave the group.
Throughout 2001, 2002 and 2003 the group worked on new material, culminating in the release of Astronaut a year later.
