Andy Taylor: Starring on bill at charity concert is triumph after cancer battle

Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor said he considers hosting and starring on the bill at a cancer charity concert a “triumph” after stage four prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The 62-year-old will be joined by Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, Andrew Ridgeley of Wham!, David Palmer of ABC, singer-songwriter Ella Henderson and guitarist Phil X, to play some of their greatest hits at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds.

Taylor, who has been rehearsing “all week” for the Saturday show, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t played a gig for two years and didn’t know if I ever would again so to be in full voice and have the band and Mr Plant in tow, it’s a little bit more than I ever expected a year ago, so it’s quite blissful.”

The event will also feature a live auction with pieces from Banksy and Picasso, as well as comedian Katherine Ryan taking to the stage alongside Ridgeley who will DJ at the event.

Funds raised will go to the Cancer Awareness Trust, which is looking to develop a new platform where people with the condition can easily access information about the disease.

Guitarist and singer Taylor, who was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in 2018, said he sings “a lot” during the show and has to “be careful” not to blow his voice out.

Speaking about returning to the stage, he told PA: “It’s a triumph and a challenge, just being able to get back to that and it’s not just physically, it’s mentally as well.

“Just to set yourself this target that you thought was unachievable because the treatment I’ve had.

“I said to the medical team ‘Am I OK to start working again’ a few months ago, and they said ‘if you feel OK, and everything looks all right with your bloods and scans then go for it but just take it easy’.

“So I started off a couple of months ago, just doing a couple of days a week and this week’s been full on, it is the first time I’ve done it and I feel like I would normally feel, I feel like rock and roll tired but not that tired.”

Taylor said it will be “special” having Plant appear at the show, teasing that the pair will be playing Led Zeppelin’s hit track Stairway To Heaven, before describing the event as “Saturday night at the Cotswolds Palladium”.

He also said the musical offering will include Duran Duran hits such as The Wild Boys and Hungry Like The Wolf, as well as featuring his son Andy on guitar.