Ten Reasons Why Duran Duran Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

This list was originally published on 10/4/2015.  Last update 3/19/2022.

This is our official DDTTRH Top 10 Reason why we think Duran Duran should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  This list is important because the Rock Hall will be announcing its nominees soon and we want this list to be the basis of our DDTTRH project promotions for 2016.  We put a lot of work into this, we hope you like it!  Special thanks to those who contributed towards this, namely Kirk Harrington, Andrew Golub, Christian Helwig, Tracey Elena, Pranav from Radio Creme Brulee (Editor and Contributor, and Josie Beaudoin (Editor and Contributor).

10 Reasons Why Duran Duran Should Be in the Rock Hall

10.  Their musical and commercial footprints are global.  Their success is not limited to specific geographic regions in the world.  

9.  Pioneers of the location "music video" shoot (e.g. videos shot in Sri Lanka for the "Rio" singles). They took a purely auditory stimuli such as music and gave it an exotic visual cloak of escapism.  They had essentially taken the medium of the music video one huge step further fairly early in the evolution of this new art form.   

8. They are consummate live entertainers. They have the physical presence, the charisma, and the raw talent, not to mention the years and years of experience, to put on a fantastic, engaging, dynamic live performance that energizes a crowd and gets them off their chairs and on their feet. This is not something automatically granted to everyone in a rock band. It is a skill that requires work and effort to hone and refine, and Duran Duran has it. 

7.  Their recent chart success of “Paper Gods” (and its entering of the US top 10 Billboard album chart) suggests a relevance of the band that transcends generational boundaries.  How many bands can say they’ve done this 35 years after they have formed?

Note:  They also placed #3 on the UK's top 100 in 2021 with the album Future Past; Also #3 on UK Top 100 for the album Astronaut in 2004.

6.  They were one of the bands that fused all the best elements of '70s music into something new for the '80s. Their mixture of glam, disco, punk and avant-garde heralded a new era in music. 

5.  They have had hit songs throughout their 35+ year career, reaching beyond Hungry Like the Wolf and Rio.  Examples from the Top 5 music markets (US, UK, Japan, France, and Germany) include I Don’t Want Your Love (1988), Ordinary World (1993), Come Undone (1993), Electric Barbarella (1997), (Reach Up for the) Sunrise (2004), What Happens Tomorrow (2005).  There is a breadth and depth to their work that has touched on about every human condition…inspiring countless fans over the decades.

4.  Duran Duran's influence has been felt across generations of music, video, and fashion, inspiring artists from nearly every genre and becoming a pivotal part of cultural history. (drops mic)

The fact that they were invited to perform at the “Fashion Rocks 2014” event is testimony to the fact that their contribution to fashion remains a milestone of pop culture history. 

3.   They have won several awards and made music history throughout their career.  Notably:

1981:  First ever extended video - Girls of Film

1983:  The band are awarded Best Album (Rio) and Best Group, and Simon is awarded Best Male Vocalist, at the British Rock & Pop Awards.

1984:  Grammy for ‘Best Music Video/Short Form’ for “Girls on Film / Hungry Like the Wolf – Video 45″.

1985:  “The Reflex” is named International Hit of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards in London.

1986:  Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 announces Duran Duran as the most successful duo or group from England based on the Billboard charts. Duran Duran were ranked first, followed by The Police, Culture Club, Wham! and The Rolling Stones.

1993:  The band is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1993:  A world-first Enhanced-CD produced by AMXstudios [Alasdair Scott and Malcolm Garrett] premiered at the EMI Records world conference in Brighton, 1993. “Universe” featured a revolutionary audio mixer, allowing users to remix “Ordinary World” on their CD-ROM enabled computers.

Haring, Bruce {2000}. Beyond the Charts: MP3 and the Digital Music Revolution. JM Northern Media. ISBN 0-9674517-0-1, p. 77-79 per Wikipedia.org

1994:  Received nomination for ‘Best Song Musically & Lyrically’ Ivor Novella Award for “Ordinary World”.

1997:  Duran Duran was the first major recording artist to release a song (single) available for purchase on the Internet in 1997 - Electric Barbarella from their Medazzaland album.

2000:  The UK Pop Trash tour features the world’s first use of “augmented reality” technology in a live concert. Duran Duran works with a computer graphics producer to create advanced 2D and 3D visual effects, which allows animated characters to appear live on stage with the band.

2001:  During a ‘Close Up Tour’ show in Anaheim, California, the first fully immersed video and audio recording of a rock concert is conducted. The live rock experience is captured using a unique 360-degree panoramic video and 10.2 channel audio recording system. This pioneering recording is coordinated by producer Jarrell Pair with audio/video researchers working with Dr. Tom Holman, famous for creating Lucasfilm’s THX audio standard.

2003:  For the first time in history, Ticketmaster’s servers crashed for 30 minutes due to the demand of the band’s August 27 Webster Hall, NY, USA show.

2003:  Received the ‘MTV Lifetime Achievement Award’.  Also received the ‘Q Lifetime Achievement Award’.

2004:  Won the Brit Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’

2004:  Duran Duran's song 'Is There Something I should Know' is played on Mars on the Mars Rover as it does soil observations.

2004:  Duran Duran received MTV Video Visionary Award at MTV's EMAs

2005:  Received the Ivor Novella Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’.

2006:  First band to play a virtual concert - Second Life

2008:  Duran Duran make history by becoming the first band to ever play at the Louvre Museum (home of the Mona Lisa) in Paris. They perform under the I.M Pei glass pyramid as part of the biggest fundraising event ever held on the Paris museum’s premises.

2008:  MTV viewers voted the band’s legendary clip for their hit single “Rio” ‘The Greatest Video Of All Time’.

2011:  GQ Lifetime Achievement Award

2015:  Q Icon award

2016:  Golden Note Award, ASCAP, London

2021:  Music Radar poll : #1 of Best Bassists in the World, John Taylor

2021:  Duran Duran is the first band ever to use an AI to create a music video (Invisble, Future Past album)

2.  Their music has influenced multiple generations of musicians, including some of the most popular bands and artists of the past couple decades.

Examples of artists that have cited them as having been influenced by Duran Duran include Justin Timberlake, Pink, Rob Thomas, Scissor Sisters, Smashing Pumpkins, Mark McGrath, Gwen Stefani, Garbage, Moby, and Dido.  < DDTTRH research>

They can and have and continue to work with anyone and everyone, collaborating with all sorts of musical artists (from opera singers to rappers) and award-winning producers (like Mark Ronson). And for them, it works, because they have the versatility and style to pull it off. 

1.  Showcasing an almost stubborn commitment to making music through some rather dark years (commercially speaking) - which also saw the band shrinking to a three-piece (featuring only two original band members) and resurrecting themselves both creatively and commercially through new musical endeavors. This is how artists evolvement happens. It sets an example for a future crop of musicans and instructs them not to throw in the towel even if the critics have labelled them as being "washed up". Nothing tastes sweeter than a comeback against all odds.  

They are such an enduring band. They've been together, lineup changes notwithstanding, consistently for 40+ years.

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Sources for Innovations mentioned:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/show-must-go-beyond-warren-de-sylva

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/duran-duran-first-band-to-perform-64692

https://q1043.iheart.com/featured/out-of-the-box/content/2021-08-11-duran-durans-invisible-music-video-is-first-ever-to-be-produced-by-ai/

http://www.jarrellpair.com/duran-duran-augmented-reality/

https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/rover-status/opportunity/2004/all/

https://www.billboard.com/pro/history-music-industry-first-ever-digital-single-20-years-later/

Duran Duran's first appearance on Casey Kasem's American Top 40:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5HP8DAy6Bc

https://duranduran.com/dd-timeline/2001/

Sources for Awards mentioned:

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/duran-duran-lifetime-achievement

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/duran-duran-win-icon-prize-10291189

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/duran-duran-get-ascap-golden-note-award-941390/

https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-bassists-2021

https://www.music-news.com/news/UK/82368/Read

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/john-taylor-finally-recognized-as-1-bassist-of-all-time.1352722/

https://www.business-live.co.uk/retail-consumer/duran-duran-top-all-time-video-3955560

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_Award_for_Outstanding_Contribution_to_Music

https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/musicnews/Duran+Duran-5422.html

https://www.popexpresso.com/2022/03/26/duran-duran-earns-their-first-no-1-in-1983-with-is-there-something-i-should-know/

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/duran-duran/girls-on-film

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/duran-duran/hungry-like-the-wolf#:~:text=The%20first%20Grammy%20Award%20for,Bon%20in%20an%20exotic%20locale.

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/duran-duran-visionary-award-mtv-emas-6738351/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivor_Novello_Award_for_Best_Song_Musically_and_Lyrically