'A passport out of Birmingham suburbs' - Duran Duran explain why they left Brum after topping the 80s charts

They're the world famous pop idols who first struck fame with their New Romantic hits in 1980s Birmingham.

Duran Duran has remained popular for more than 40 years and still perform world tours to a legion of fans from Asia to America - recently releasing their latest album Danse Macabre.

The band members met in Birmingham in the 60s and 70s. Nick Rhodes, Roger Taylor and John Taylor grew up in the city while frontman Simon Le Bon moved here from Hertfordshire to attend the University of Birmingham. And on and off former member Andy Taylor moved to Birmingham in 1980 from Cullercoats, Tyne & Wear after going on tour in England and Europe with several different bands.

It's well documented how Duran Duran first launched their New Romantic sounds from the former nightclub Rum Runner in Broad Street after bringing a demo tape to the club. The club was owned by the Berrow brothers and they gave the band a rehearsal space as well as jobs at the now-demolished club. Within four years Duran Duran went from playing staff at Rum Runner to performing at Madison Square Gardens in New York to 20,000 fans.

The Rum Runner is no longer there but in December 2022, Birmingham Civic Society honoured the site with an iconic blue plaque - which is still there for residents and visitors to see.

Why Duran Duran left Birmingham

These days Duran Duran are spread across London, British countryside, and the US.

But they have recently been looking back at their Brummie roots with founder member Nick Rhodes telling The Big Issue: how the musicians had big plans to bring their music out of the city from the beginning.

He said: "I was 16 when we formed the band, and we wanted to get out of there. People are lovely in Birmingham. However, the overriding feeling was: there’s got to be something else out there in the world that we want to see.” And John Taylor has told how music was "a mental passport out of the suburbs". He added: "Whether it was Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, or Roxy Music’s A Song for Europe, I could lose myself in these songs and just be transported.”

In the 1980s, the country was going through changing times, and in the midst of Thatcherism, privatisation, and growing economic disparity their music catapulted them into being the most glamorous band of the era.

So, when they got the chance - they hopped on a plane to sunnier destinations to shoot their music videos. For Save a Prayer and Hungry Like the Wolf, they hit the beaches and temples of Sri Lanka, and for Rio the blue waters of the Caribbean.

John said: “I remember one of the guys from Heaven 17 having a go at us saying that our videos were, like, show-offy. Do you remember [Heaven 17’s 1983 album] The Luxury Gap? Well, that’s what they were saying. The Luxury Gap was about bands like Duran Duran prancing around exotic locations, ‘while we’re back in our council flats’.”

Meanwhile, Nick never imagined how popular it would make them. He said: "If you’d said to us, this video is going to be shown in the future, 24 hours a day when anyone wants to click on it, and kids that aren’t even born yet are going to be looking at and referencing that video… I would have laughed.”

For Nick - who started as a window dresser in Birmingham - this popularity and freedom opened other doors. On his first trip to New York in 1981, he became friends with the famed artist Andy Warhol.

Nick told the Guardian: “I learned a lot from him, to be sure. He was so much smarter and hipper than anyone my age that I knew outside my band. He was so switched on and eternally curious.”

However, the band members also known as the Wild Boys became known for their heady excesses but they are all past that stage and despite being in their 60s, are taking their music more seriously than ever. They released their 16th studio album Danse Macabre in October 2023 and it has garnered favourable reviews.