Andy Taylor Andy Taylor, born as Andrew Taylor on February 16, 1961, in Tynemouth, United Kingdom, is best known as the guitarist and possibly the most experienced member of the English New Wave band of the 1980s, Duran Duran. Andy has been playing guitar for most of his life, starting at the age of eleven in local bands. By the time he was sixteen he was producing music, and was confident enough in his skills as a musician to quit high school. He dropped out of Marden High School to tour England and Europe where he played at men’s clubs and air force bases with different bands. He joined the New Romantic band, Duran Duran, in 1980 as the band’s guitarist. Over the next five years the band enjoyed a crazy level of success. Unfortunately the success was not meant to last and in 1985 the band decided to take a break. It was a break some of the members wouldn’t return from, including Andy Taylor, even though the band started recording again just one year later. During the hiatus, Andy joined forces with drummer Tony Thompson, singer Robert Palmer, and fellow Duran Duran band member, bassist John Taylor, to create the hard-rock band The Power Station.
The Power Station was moderately successful. The band had three hit singles and played at the multi-venue rock music concert, Live Aid, on July 13, 1985. Money from the band went to aid famine relief in Ethiopia. That same year, Andy worked with Palmer on Palmer’s first solo, and extremely successful album, Riptide. After The Power Station, Andy decided to pursue a solo music career. He did this while working as the guitarist for three songs for Duran Duran’s 1986 album, Notorious. Andy’s first solo hit single “Take It Easy” was used in the 1986 sports drama, American Anthem. This was followed by his first solo album in 1987, Thunder. In 1988, his song “Dead on the Money” was on the soundtrack of the romantic thriller, Tequila Sunrise, starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kurt Russell. Two years later, in 1990, Andy released his second solo album, Dangerous. Throughout the 1990s Andy also played as a back-up musician to other stars including Belinda Carlisle, Rod Stewart, and the English hard-rock band, Thunder. In 1997 Andy participated in the reunion of The Power Station. In 2001 he reunited with other members of Duran Duran, and together they released Astronaut in 2004.
At the beginning of 2006 the band performed at two high profile events: the Nobel Prize Awards and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The remainder of 2006 was spent working on new songs, including a potential collaboration with Justin Timberlake, and performing at other events. On October 25, 2006, an “unworkable gulf” between Andy and the rest of the members caused him to part ways with Duran Duran for the second time. Andy has been married to Tracey Wilson, one of Duran Duran’s former hairstylists, since 1982. The couple has four children. YUDDY | 
