Andy Taylor

Encouraged by his father, Andy Taylor took lessons in playing the guitar from a jazz guitarist who lived across the road from him and started to play the instrument seriously from the age of 11. He left school in 1976 and joined a punk band called The Gigolos. They became Motorway and released a single that didn't chart. He had played nearly 600 gigs in a variety of working men's clubs, strip joints and military bases before responding to an advert in Melody Maker placed by a band needing a guitarist. The band was Duran Duran, he successfully auditioned and the group went on to become one of the most successful acts of Britain's early 1980s' "New Romantic" movement, scoring many big hits, including two British number one singles, "Is There Something I Should Know?" and "The Reflex". They were also Princess Diana's favourite band. Andy Taylor married Tracey Wilson, the band's hair stylist and opened a wine bar, Rio, in Whitley Bay. He left Duran Duran in 1985 and since then has worked with Robert Palmer in Power Station, Rod Stewart and Thunder.