Nick Rhodes

Biography

Nick was born Nicholas James Bates on 8th June 1962 to parents Sylvia and Roger and grew up in Hollywood, Birmingham.
He met Nigel (John) Taylor when he was about 10 years old. They both loved the idea of becoming musicians and they wanted to form a band. They both learnt to play the guitar but Nick eventually switched to keyboards.
Nick left school at 16 so he could concentrate full time on becoming a musician. He hated school anyway and once said that it gets in the way of education.
The name of their band (Duran Duran) came from 60's sci-fi film Barbarella which had a character in it called Duran Duran played by Milo O'Shea. The line up of the band consisted of Nick playing the wasp, John on guitar, Simon Colley on oboe and Stephen Duffy playing bass and singing. Simon and Stephen didn't stay with the band for very long though.
Nick and John along with Roger Taylor (who like his Queen namesake is a drummer) got jobs at the Rumrunner club in Birmingham. John and Roger collected glasses, while Nick was the DJ. The club was the perfect place for the band to practice and they later they became the house band there.
They put an ad in the melody maker music mag for a guitarist (as John had by now switched to playing bass) and Andy Taylor joined the group. They were still looking for a singer, when one of the barmaids suggested that she get her boyfriend (Simon LeBon) to come and audition. Once they had Simon on board they were ready and the owners of the club (Paul and Michael Berrow) became their managers.
Duran Duran first hit the airwaves in February 1981 with Planet earth taken from their self titled debut album.
For asthetic reasons, Nick decided to change his surname. Nick asked John what he thought would be a good name and he came up with the name Rhodes.
In 1983 Nick wrote and produced a song called Too shy for a band called Kajagoogoo. It went to number one, confining Duran to the number two slot.
On 12th August 1984 Nick married Julie Anne Friedman in London. Nick wore a pink silk suit and everything at the reception was pink, including some flamingos!

Also in '84 he released a book of photographs called Interference. It consisted of a series of poloriods taken of TV screens, whereby the images were all distorted.

At the end of '84, after 4 albums and non-stop touring the band went on a break. John and Andy went to the States and formed The power station with Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson; while Simon, Nick and Roger formed Arcadia with guest stars Grace Jones, Sting and Dave Gilmore. Both bands released albums, The power station LP and So red the rose respectively.
Duran did have a number one single in 1985 however, with A view to a kill which is the theme to the Bond film of the same name. The song currently remains the only Bond theme to get to number one. They also reunited briefly that year to play at the JFK stadium for Live aid.
When the time came for the band to reunite and start recording a new Duran album, both Andy and Roger decided that they'd had enough. Roger wanted a quiet, normal life to raise children and Andy moved to the States to embark on a solo career. They also parted with their managers.
In 1986, Nick and Julie Anne had a daughter (Tatjana, born on 23rd August) and the remaining three members of Duran (who were now managing themselves) went into the studio to record the album Notorious with Nile Rodgers.

On 22nd February 1987, Nicks close friend, Andy Warhol died following surgery and their song Do you believe in shame became dedicated to him. In 1988, that same song (taken from the Big thing album) was used on the sountrack for the film Tequila sunrise.
After Big thing, Nick, Simon and John decided to make drummer Sterling Campbell and guitarist Warren Cucurrullo permanent members of the band.
In the early 90's Nick split form his wife and started dating Madeline Farley, whom he had met at a party in late 1992. He said that he was attracted to her sense of humour.

After the Liberty album Duran and Sterling Campbell parted ways and the band was reduced to a 4-piece.
Nick and Julie Anne finally divorced in December of '94.
Also in '94, two more of their songs were used in films (With honours and Threesome).
In 1995 Roger Taylor briefly returned to the band to record some tracks for their cover album, Thank you.
In January 1997, before their currnet album was finished, John Taylor decided to leave the band to persue a solo music and acting career. He starred in the film Sugar town and he toured with his own band called Terroristen.
Nick, Simon and Warren completed the album which contained the tracks Out of my mind, used in the film The saint, and (the title track) Medazzaland, which sees Nick on lead vocals for the first (and so far only) time. The album was however, never released in the UK.
In 1999 VH1 recorded a behind the music documentary on the band and all members (past and present) were interviewed with the exception of Roger. Madeline was also featured in the program but later that year the pair split.
Also that year Nick contributed his voice to the animated film South park: bigger, longer and uncut, he was a canadian pilot. Nick is friends with South park creator Trey Parker and is a huge fan of the show.
Nick had a 4 month fling with IT girl Tara Palmer Tompkinson which ended in February 2000. Later that year he dated another IT girl, this time Lady Victoria Hervey. The schedule of the Pop trash tour took its toll on the relationship and the pair split.

Also in 2000 Duran recoreded Storytellers for VH1.
In 2001, not long before the end of the Pop trash tour, Warrens former band, Missing persons, announced a reunion. Later on Nick and Simon confirmed that Warren would be leaving to return to his former group and that the original line-up of Duran Duran would also be reuniting with an album scheduled for release sometime in 2002.

In September of 2001, Nick and Simon posed for a series of GAP ads which featured in magazines and on billboards.

In summer of 2001 Nick met his current girlfriend Meredith Ostrum, a model/actress from the States. The pair met in London when they both went for the same taxi. It turned out that they were going to the same party and decided to share and have been together ever since. Meredith has stated though, that she won't live with Nick as her mother wouldn't approve.

In 2001 Nick got together with Duran Durans original vocalist, Stephen Duffy, to re-record songs from that era of DD (Stephen came across an old tape of their very first gig). They decided to use only equipment that would have been around at that time (1978) to record the album. They called themselves The Devils and released Dark cirlces in 2002.

In 2003 Nick and the rest of the band announce their first tour dates with the original line up for 18 years and a box set of their first 13 singles is released on cd. Both Q magazine and MTV award the band with Lifetime achievement awards at their annual awards ceremonies.

In 2004 the band recieve the Outstanding contribution to music award at the annual BRITS awards ceremony. Another singles box set is released, this time all the singles from Notorious through to White lines. The band finally signs a record contract with Epic and the eagerly awaited new album 'Astronaut' is released.

Nick is a big fan of the simpsons and has said that his favourite episode is Lisas wedding, but he changes his mind by the week. He is also a fan of Tim Burtons films, especially Mars attacks and he also like vampire films. His musical tastes are quite varied, but he likes The velvet underground, Kraftwerk and The dandy warhols among others. Nick owns the name Duran Duran and together with Warren, has a production company called TV mania. He currently lives in London with his cat (a Russian blue called yag) and his daughter.