Billboard cover stars Duran Duran talk about pushing the pop envelope, staying power and why Harry Styles is a 'good chap'.
On lasting success & Harry Styles: 'We were the last band people thought would carry on,' says Le Bon. 'They thought we were a flash in the pan, contrived, probably put together by management.' (He has 'great sympathy' for One Direction: 'They are a cash cow for so many people ... there's a huge pressure to never take a break.' But Harry Styles 'seems to be a decent chap. That makes me think he is handling it all very well.')
On hanging out with Royals: ' 'Glamorous' and 'shallow' are never words you use to describe your own life. But, yes, it was fun. It was fun hanging out with Princess Margaret, Prince Charles and Diana and Warhol, too. But that's all the press ever talked about: the parties, the models, the boats, the booze. But we did work hard.'
On being seen as washed up: Now, the concern is the band will be viewed as long in the tooth. John offers a crisp defense: 'You don't hear Beethoven again and think, 'This is a nostalgia thing.' Nor Shakespeare: 'Oh no, another reading of Hamlet ...' ' Then John looks to Pablo Picasso, 'an artist that still had tremendous vitality into his 70s,' for inspiration, and Le Bon takes his from John Lee Hooker, because Hooker went on performing until he couldn't anymore.