Split everything equally': Simon Le Bon shares the secret to Duran Duran's 45-year survival

Duran Duran’s 45-year longevity is framed around their Halloween showmanship, with Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes describing how the band turns pop into a theatrical, crowd-lifting spectacle. In October 2024, Duran Duran brought a Halloween performance to New York’s Madison Square Garden featuring dancers and “an army of drag queens.” Rhodes says the result felt like “Duran meets Rocky Horror,” while Le Bon notes the band tries to avoid standard werewolf, zombie, and vampire clichés. The concept began as a warm-up idea for a Las Vegas show ahead of their 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance and evolved into a fully costumed event. Ahead of a British Summer Time headline at Hyde Park, the group has released Danse Macabre (2023) and is pairing this year’s Halloween run with the Free to Love: Hot Star Remixes collection, built from their April single featuring artists including Trixie Mattel and DJ White Shadow.