Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor retires from the band after tinnitus diagnosis
The original drummer, who joined in 1979 and returned for the 2001 reunion, says he must now follow his doctors' advice. The band says it will continue.
Photo: Raph_PH / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Roger Taylor has left Duran Duran and retired from drumming after his tinnitus worsened. The band announced the decision on 12 November 2026. Taylor, who joined in 1979, said in the statement that he has reached the point where he must listen to his body and his doctors.
Singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor said they fully support the decision and described Roger as their brother. They also said he will always be part of the family, and that the band will carry on with "new and exciting projects". Taylor called the decision one of the hardest he has made, according to the band's announcement.
From 1979 to the 2001 reunion
Taylor was in the line-up that made Duran Duran (1981), Rio (1982) and Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983), the records that took the Birmingham group to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. He left in the mid 1980s: Variety and DJ Mag give 1985, Rolling Stone 1986. His last show with the original line-up was Live Aid in Philadelphia in July 1985, according to Wikipedia's account of the band's history.
The original five reunited in 2001, and Taylor stayed for the next quarter of a century. He played on six studio albums in that period: Astronaut, Red Carpet Massacre, All You Need Is Now, Paper Gods, Future Past and Danse Macabre, released in 2023. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Why tinnitus ends a drummer's career
Tinnitus is a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears, often linked to long exposure to loud sound. For a drummer sitting a few feet from cymbals and a monitor mix, every show adds to that exposure. Taylor's statement does not describe his symptoms in detail, and the band has not said whether he will appear on stage again in any capacity.
Other musicians have been public about the same problem. Neil Young and Pete Townshend have both spoken about living with tinnitus, and Townshend has long linked his hearing damage to The Who's loud stage shows. In Taylor's case, the band's wording is that medical advice drove the decision, not a dispute or a change of direction.
What the band has not said
No replacement has been named in the reports published so far, and the band has not said how live dates will be handled. Taylor was the drummer on every album since the reunion, so any future shows will need a different drummer or a different set-up. The phrase "new and exciting projects" in the statement points to more work, with no title, date or format attached to it.
For fans, the practical question is the next tour and the next record. Danse Macabre, released in 2023 and followed by a deluxe edition in 2024, is the last album with Taylor's drumming on it. Whatever follows will be the first Duran Duran record in the reunion era without him.
