New Direction (2006 and beyond)

early 2006, Duran Duran covered John Lennon's song Instant Karma for the Make Some Noise campaign sponsored by Amnesty International to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death, and performed at two high profile events — the Nobel Prize Awards and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.


The cover of the new album Red Carpet MassacreAfter a couple of weeks of songwriting in California, the band began working with producer Michael Patterson in London, and continued intermittently for the next several months. At one point, they reported having fifteen tracks nearly complete for an album tentatively titled Reportage, but no further news emerged from the band for months afterward. In September, the band held meetings in New York City with Justin Timberlake and producer Timbaland with an eye to a potential collaboration and were soon reported to have completed three songs with the producer, including a duet with Timberlake.

On October 25, 2006, Andy Taylor parted ways with Duran Duran for the second time. In an official announcement on their website, Duran Duran stated that an unworkable gulf had developed between them and Taylor and that we can no longer effectively function together. For the remaining 2006 tour dates, Dominic Brown stood in as guitarist. After Taylor's departure, the band scrapped the Reportage album and wrote and recorded a new album which included the Timbaland tracks.

In July the band performed twice at the massive Wembley Stadium, at the Concert for Diana and at Live Earth concert, London.

On September 25th, the Timberlake collaboration Falling Down was released as a download single on iTunes, and the band announced that they would play nine shows at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway to launch the album Red Carpet Massacre.