As the music world comes together to celebrate what would have been David Bowie’s 74th birthday, Duran Duran have paid tribute to their hero and friend with a cover of “Five Years.”
“Five Years” is, of course, the opening track from Bowie’s classic 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, an LP that inspired all the young dudes from Duran Duran to take up instruments and chase the rock ‘n’ roll dream.
“My life as a teenager was all about David Bowie,” writes frontman Simon Le Bon in a statement posted to Duran Duran’s socials. “He is the reason why I started writing songs. Part of me still can’t believe in his death five years ago, but maybe that’s because there’s a part of me where he’s still alive and always will be. When we got the Ziggy Stardust LP and put the needle in the groove, our first taste of its perfection was the song 'Five Years'. I can’t begin to explain how honored I feel for Duran Duran to be given the opportunity to perform this icon, and to place our name alongside Bowie’s for this commemoration of his music.”