In the run up to Duran Duran’s second British Summer Time show at Hyde Park in five years, Simon Le Bon caused something of a stir online when he said that the band want to play Glastonbury – but only if they headline. “We shouldn’t be below anybody on the bill,” he said, revealing over the years they have refused inferior offers. There was a bit of scornful pushback (something they’ve long been used to), which tended along the lines of: does this 80s band really think they can compete with Olivia Rodrigo et al at pop’s top table?
But Le Bon is 100 per cent right. What do people actually want in a Glastonbury headliner these days? Increasingly, a show with a bit of pizzazz, some star quality and tunes everyone knows and can sing along to. If it’s fun and pop-facing, all the better. At Hyde Park, Duran Duran showed they tick all the boxes: hits and hooks galore, intermittent dancers, fire and hi-tech production values. This was a Pyramid Stage-ready show.
It’s a wonder they haven’t been asked before: 100 million album sales and 12 top 10 hits – including two No 1s – would normally get you a shot; over 15 million monthly listeners on Spotify shows people are still listening. Perhaps their historical lack of cool was once an issue; even in their 80s pomp – and pomp couldn’t be a more apt word – they were often dismissed by critics as empty suits for their unapologetic aspirational glamour.
