You know, this story broke yesterday afternoon (well, that's when an official posting was made on the band's website) but is only just hitting the news sites. That isn't that surprising, but if you'd checked the band's entry in Wikipedia at 6pm last night you'd have found it updated taking in this change. Which tells us two things. Wikipedia's a great resource. And the average Wikipedia contributor is very committed (and arguably a bit obsessive).
Anyway, following rumours about his involvement in the band's forthcoming live dates and album release, Duran Duran yesterday confirmed that Andy Taylor has left the band, who will continue as a four piece. The news comes just over five years after the band reformed with its original line up.
In a statement the remaining four members said yesterday: "We know that there has been a tremendous amount of speculation over the past few weeks regarding Andy Taylor's continued involvement with the band and we are sorry that we've been unable to provide you with more information until now. The past five years have been an incredible journey for us all - and having the original five back together was something that we had wanted to see happen for some time. As of last weekend, however, the four of us have dissolved our partnership and will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together. Although obviously disappointed and saddened about this, we are excited about the next chapter of the Duran Duran story and look forward to seeing you all soon".