Simon Le Bon | Duran Duran Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Le Bon was a member of the local church choir from a young age, but was also trained as an actor. He appeared in several amateur stage productions such as The King and I when he was 7, Bless the Bride with the Harrow light opera company, Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Man For All Seasons. Simon went to Pinner County Grammar School, the same high school that Elton John attended some years earlier. He worked as a theater porter at Northwick Park Hospital accident and emergency, and also auditioned for a punk band at Harrow College of Science and Technology. He appeared in a few television commercials and also in several theatre productions making his West End stage debut in Tom Brown's Schooldays , which premiered at the Cambridge Theatre in London (UK) on 9 May 1972. He worked on a kibbutz -- an Israeli collective community -- in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to attend drama school at the University of Birmingham.

Simon first performed with a punk band called Dog Days when he was 17, at one gig they were fourth on the bill and were not allowed to play on the stage, they had to play on the floor!. Simon also sang with Bolleaux - a pub style R&B band, Eddie and the Hotrods - a rock band and a Electro punk band called Rov Ostrov before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran. Duran Duran Edit Duran Duran had been founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. The band had been through a long succession of lineup changes since Duffy's departure, but had recently settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavored with disco, funk, and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice. Le Bon's ex-girlfriend Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran was rehearsing) introduced him to the band in May of 1980 , recommending him as a potential vocalist.

As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poetry he had written - some of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums. After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems (" Sound of Thunder ") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try [Duran Duran] out for the summer" and his first show was on the 16 July 1980 at the Rum Runner club in Birmingham. Within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham and London, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Conner led to a record deal with EMI Records in December. Le Bon never returned to his acting career. The band's first album, Duran Duran , was released in 1981 , and they quickly shot to fame as part of the New Romantic movement. Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and Arena (1984).

Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break. Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, " Do They Know It's Christmas? . Family Edit That year, Le Bon wooed the young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modelling agency to track her down. They married on December 27, 1985 and Yasmin Le Bon has gone on to enjoy a supermodel career of unusual longevity-- more than twenty years. After suffering two miscarriages, the couple had three daughters: Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born August 25, 1989), Saffron Sahara Le Bon (born September 25, 1991) and Tallulah Pine Le Bon (born September 10, 1994).

Yachting Edit While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985 , Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi-yacht Drum lost her keel and capsized during the Fastnet race , just off Falmouth, along the southern coast of Cornwall. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped underwater, inside the hull, for forty minutes. Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round The Race coming in third overall in elapsed time. Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum - The Journey Of A Lifetime . Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced Drum in the Fastnet race, borrowing the vessel from her current owner to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity.

Unfortunately, Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing Drum (and Drum's competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan at a sold-out, 60,000-seat show. Arcadia Before Duran Duran reunited, Le Bon formed the band Arcadia with fellow Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor . Arcadia released only one album, the multi-platinum So Red The Rose (1985), and the band never toured. Duran Duran again Edit Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes, and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious ( 1986 ), Big Thing ( 1988 ), and Liberty ( 1990 ), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late 1980s. Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album . Several months into the intensive concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered from strained vocal cords, and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered.

In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You , and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favorite artists, (Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, and Elvis Costello), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit " Ordinary World " with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning. The following two albums without any Taylors, Medazzaland ( 1997 ) and Pop Trash ( 2000 ) were not commercial successes. In 2001 , Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, " Astronaut ", for Epic Records. "Astronaut" was released worldwide on 11 October, 2004 . The album was preceded by the single " (Reach Up For The) Sunrise ", their first UK Top 10 single for a decade.

Solo excursions Edit While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the Whitbread Round The World Race, he contributed a song entitled " Grey Lady Of The Sea " (released as a single in Japan in 1988) and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum - The Journey Of A Lifetime ( 1987 ). In 1989, for Jonathan Elias ' Requiem For The Americas project, Le Bon contributed " Follow In My Footsteps ", with Susanna Hoffs on background vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year. In 1991 Simon and Nick form the record production company SYN Productions . In 1998,along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan. Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director".

In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, " Dreamboy ", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills. Also in 2000 , SYN Productions co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo 's side-venture TV Mania . In 2005, Le Bon participated in the Live 8 concert in Rome with Duran Duran. In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious , from the album Liberty . (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat. Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings) In late 2006, Simon became a member of Shinzou Sound , and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, Synesthesia, by co-writing the theme song " Nobody Knows " along with Nick Wood.

Shinzou Sound is a group of creative collaborators specializing in manga, music, web design, and popular culture. They joined forces with the simple concept of merging their talents in an effort to deliver the new entertainment of music and manga in an innovative way. Exclusive songs, inspired by the manga story were commissioned from international and Japanese DJ's, and the story was launched in fortnightly episodes on the Net, with the individual songs available free through iTunes Japan. Trivia Simon Le Bon - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Simon Le Bon Wikis Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics Top rankings for Simon Le Bon 11st From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon Born Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) in Bushey near Watford, England U.K , is the lead singer, lyricist and musician with the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia .

Contents 5 External links Early life Simon John Charles Le Bon was the first born son of John Le Bon and Ann-Marie, followed by two further sons, David and Jonathan. His mother encouarged his artistic talent when he was six years old by entering him in a screen test for a Persil washing powder TV advert; he won and starred as the little boy with the off-white shirt. He was a member of the local church choir from a young age, but was also trained as an actor. He is descended from exiled French Huguenot stock. Simon went to Pinner County Grammar School , the same school that Elton John attended some years earlier. He worked as a theatre porter at Northwick Park Hospital Accident and Casualty, and also auditioned for a punk band at Harrow College. He appeared in a few television commercials and also in several theatre productions including Tom Brown's Schooldays in the West End of London . He worked on a kibbutz – an Israeli collective community – in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to study drama at the University of Birmingham before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran.

Le Bon attended Birmingham University at the same time as Blancmange lead singer Neil Arthur. This fact came up during a Smash Hits interview of Blancmange done by Chris Heath . According to Arthur, Le Bon recognised his old university classmate immediately upon running into him backstage at a Top of the Pops taping, and the two met up for a drink and friendly chat. Career Duran Duran Duran Duran was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. The band went through a long succession of lineup changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with disco, funk, and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice. Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran was rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential vocalist.

As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poetry he had written -- several of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums. [1] After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try [Duran Duran] out for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham, London & Nottingham, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Connor led to a record deal with EMI Records in December. The band's first album, Duran Duran , was released in 1981, and they quickly shot to fame as part of the New Romantic movement. Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and the live album Arena (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break.

Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, " Do They Know It's Christmas ." Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes, and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988). The group added guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and Sterling Campbell (his only album as a member of the band) and recorded the album Liberty (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late-1980s. Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album . Several months into the intensive concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered from strained vocal cords , and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered. In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You , and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favorite artists, ( Jim Morrison , Lou Reed , and Elvis Costello ), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters.

That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. Le Bon described the event to Jam! Showbiz thus: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man." When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning. The successive two albums with Le Bon, Rhodes, and Cuccurullo, Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash (2000) were not commercial successes. Simon Le Bon performing in 2005 In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, " Astronaut ", for Epic Records . "Astronaut" was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade.

Arcadia Before Duran Duran reunited in 1986, Le Bon formed the band Arcadia with fellow Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor . The band had a UK/US top 10 hit with their first single " Election Day ", and released one album, So Red The Rose in 1985. Solo excursions While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire recording history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the Whitbread Round the World Race , he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady Of The Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum (1987). Grey Lady Of The Sea was released as a single in Japan in 1988. In 1989, for Jonathan Elias ' Requiem For The Americas project, Le Bon contributed "Follow In My Footsteps", with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs on background vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year. In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan.

Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director". In 1999, Le Bon was reported to be involved in Napalm Death's new album, a collaboration brought about through their shared love of hometown Birmingham. In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills. Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo 's side-venture TV Mania . In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious , from the album Liberty . (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat.

Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings) In late 2006, Simon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, 'Synesthesia', by co-writing the theme song 'Nobody Knows' along with Nick Wood. Shinzou Sound is a group of creative collaborators specializing in manga, music, web design, and popular culture. They joined forces with the simple concept of merging their talents in an effort to deliver the new entertainment of music and manga in an innovative way. Exclusive songs, inspired by the manga story were commissioned from international and Japanese DJs, and the story was launched in fortnightly episodes on the Net, with the individual songs available free through iTunes Japan. Personal life In the early 1980s, Simon was engaged to his then long-term girlfriend, model-turned-actress Claire Stansfield . While still with Claire, Le Bon wooed young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modeling agency to track her down, even as magazines speculated on a possible wedding with Stansfield. Simon and Yasmin married on 27 December 1985.

After Parvaneh suffered two miscarriages , the couple had three daughters: Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born August 1989 - a model like her mother), [2] Saffron Sahara (born September 1991) and Tallulah Pine (born June 1994).[citation needed] The family, along with the family dog, a pug named Luigi, lives in Putney, South West London. While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht , Drum, lost her keel and capsized during the Fastnet race , just off Falmouth , along the southern coast of Cornwall . Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped underwater, inside the hull, for forty minutes. Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race , coming in third overall in elapsed time. Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum - The Journey Of A Lifetime.

Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced Drum in the Fastnet race , borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the Scottish multi car garage owner Sir Arnold Clark ) to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity. Unfortunately, Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing Drum (and Drum's competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan at a sold-out, 60,000-seat show. [3] In 2009 Simon (who describes himself as a "concerned agnostic" [4] ) contributed an essay to the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine . References ^ De Graaf, Kasper (1982). Duran Duran: Their Story. Port Chester, NY, USA: Cherry Lane Books. pp. 7-8. ISBN 0862761719.

Simon Le Bon - 必应 Simon Le Bon 西蒙·约翰·查尔斯Le Bon (生于1958年10月27日)是一位英国音乐家，最有名的歌手、作词乐队和音乐家杜兰·杜兰及其分支，世外桃源。 Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia. Simon Le Bon Early life Simon John Charles Le Bon was the first-born son of John Le Bon and Ann-Marie of Huguenot descent, followed by two further sons, David and Jonathan. His mother encouraged his artistic talent when he was six years old by entering him in a screen test for a Persil washing powder TV advert; he won and starred as the little boy with the off-white shirt, but had no spoken lines. He was a member of the local church choir from a young age, but was also trained as an actor. Simon went to Pinner County Grammar School, the same school that Elton John attended some years earlier. He also attended Nower Hill High School, the same school his mother attended.

He worked as a theatre porter at Northwick Park Hospital Accident and Casualty, and also auditioned for a punk band at Harrow College. He appeared in a few television commercials and also in several theatre productions including Tom Brown's Schooldays in the West End of London. He worked on a kibbutz – an Israeli collective community – in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to study drama at the University of Birmingham before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran in 1980. Duran Duran Duran Duran was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. The band went through a long succession of lineup changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with disco, funk and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice.

Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran was rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential vocalist. As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poems he had written—several of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums. After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try [Duran Duran] out for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham, London and Nottingham, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Connor led to a record deal with EMI Records in December. The band's first album, Duran Duran, was released in 1981, and they quickly became famous as part of the New Romantic movement.

Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and the live album Arena (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break.. Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas". Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988). The group added guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and drummer Sterling Campbell (his only album as a member of the band) and recorded the album Liberty (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late-1980s. Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album, featuring the top-10 single "Ordinary World".

Several months into the extensive worldwide concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered a torn vocal cord, and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered. In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You, and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favourite artists, (Jim Morrison, Lou Reed and Elvis Costello), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. Le Bon described the event to Jam! Showbiz thusly: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man.\ When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning. The successive two albums with Le Bon, Rhodes and Cuccurullo, Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash (2000) were not commercial successes.

In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, Astronaut, for Epic Records. Astronaut was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade. Solo excursions While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire recording history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the Whitbread Round the World Race, he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady Of The Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum (1987). "Grey Lady Of The Sea" was released as a single in Japan in 1988. In 1989, for Jonathan Elias' Requiem For The Americas project, Le Bon contributed "Follow In My Footsteps", with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs on background vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year. In 1993, Le Bon produced the album Perfect Teeth for the indie rock band Unrest.

In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan. Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director". In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills. Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo's side-venture TV Mania. In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious, from the album Liberty. (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat.

Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings) In late 2006, Le Bon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, 'Synesthesia', by co-writing the theme song 'Nobody Knows' along with Nick Wood. In 2010, Le Bon collaborated on the song "Record Collection", the title track from Mark Ronson's third album. In the song, Le Bon is heard singing the chorus, along with Mark Ronson and hip hop artist Wiley. The song does not have a current single release date. Ronson later produced Duran Duran's 2010 album All You Need Is Now. Simon Le Bon Personal life In the early 1980s, Simon was engaged to his then longtime girlfriend, model-turned-actress Claire Stansfield. While still with Stansfield, Le Bon wooed young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modelling agency to track her down, even as magazines speculated on a possible wedding with Stansfield. Simon and Yasmin married on 27 December 1985.

After Yasmin suffered two miscarriages, the couple had three daughters, including Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born 25 August 1989), a model like her mother. While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht, Drum, lost its keel and capsized during the Fastnet race, just off Falmouth, along the southern coast of Cornwall. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped underwater, inside the hull, for forty minutes. They were all rescued by the Royal Navy, using a Search and Rescue helicopter from 771 Naval Air Squadron based near Helston. The rescue earned the Rescue Diver, POACMN L Slater, a George Medal. Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race, coming in third overall in elapsed time. Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum – The Journey Of A Lifetime and the book One Watch at a Time written by Drum's skipper, Skip Novak.

Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced Drum in the Fastnet race, borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the Scottish multi car garage owner Sir Arnold Clark) to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity. Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing Drum (and the other competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan. Currently he is involved in a documentary film project about a Swan 65 sailing yacht called Sayula II which won the first Whitbread Round the World sailing race in 1973. In 2009 Le Bon (who describes himself as a "concerned agnostic") contributed an essay to the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine. In 2014, he became a distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association. Le Bon injured his vocal cords and was unable to finish his 2011 summer tour.

He remarked, "I am trying to be philosophical." In a 2011 interview with New York, Le Bon stated that he currently enjoys the bands Scissor Sisters, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, and Thirty Seconds to Mars—all of which Le Bon cites as having a similar "feathers-and-mascara" image. ^ CNW ^ "Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon prepares for 50th birthday". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 14 December 2012. ^ De Graaf, Kasper (1982). Duran Duran: Their Story. Port Chester, NY, USA: Cherry Lane Books. pp.7–8. ISBN0-86276-171-9. ^ Arthurs, Deborah (18 March 2009). "Amber Le Bon unveils supermodel figure in Seventies-style swimwear shoot - just like mum Yasmin used to". Daily Mail. ^ "Viewing Page 3447 of Issue 50453". London-gazette.co.uk. 10 March 1986. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

^ Novak, Skip (1988). One Watch at a Time: Around the World with Drum on the Whitbread Race. New York, NY, USA: W. W. Norton. ISBN0-393-02498-9. ^ "Cowes Online – Simon Le Bon retires from Rolex Fastnet Race". Cowes.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2014. ^ ^ "Simon LeBon and "The Atheist's Guide to Christmas (autor: Simon Le Inspirations (♫ Simon Le Bon's Inspirations ♫))"". Blogs.myspace.com. Retrieved 29 March 2013. ^ "Simon Le Bon". British Humanist Association. Retrieved 14 October 2014. ^ "Duran Duran forced to call off summer tour after Simon Le Bon strains vocal chords". mirror.co.uk. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011. ^ Murphy, Tim (9 January 2011). "86 Minutes With Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes - New York Magazine". Nymag.com.

Retrieved 31 December 2011. Simon Le Bon (Musician) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Simon Le Bon Male Born Oct 27, 1958 Simon John Charles Le Bon is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia. related links News + Updates Browse recent news and stories about Simon Le Bon. Duran Duranâs New Album Produced By Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson & Mr Hudson, Will Feature Kiesza Idolator - Mar 27, 2015 ' \n \n \n \n \n Duran Duran\'s \'The Wedding Album\' Turns 20\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Nick Rhodes talks to us about the band\'s classic 1993 album.\n \n MORE &gt;&gt;\n \n \n \n \n \n\n Duran Duran have some pretty great stuff lined up for their upcoming ...

Gregory Weinkauf: BeyoncÃ© And Friends Rock The Sound Of Change Concert: Global Women's Charities Benefit Directly Via Catapult Huffington Post - Jun 02, 2013 '\n Oh, I love a benefit concert! Grew up on \'em (the Secret Policeman\'s Ball shows, the Amnesty concerts for human rights, Live Aid...), and always welcome another. \n\n Very happily, a huge new benefit show occurred Saturday night near London: Chime for Change: The Sound of Change Live Concert! \n\n The cause is simple yet crucial: \"to raise awareness of issues affecting girls and women, and to raise funds for non-profit organizations pursuing change.\" \n\n The method is also si... Beyonce Headlines 'sound Of Change' Concert, With Some Husbandly Help Huffington Post - Jun 01, 2013 '\n Girl power ruled at the Sound Of Change concert in London, which Beyonce headlined.

\n\n The \'Girls On Top\' songstress, who showed off her curves in an embellished leather body suit, was joined by her rapper husband Jay-Z for a duet during her 45-minute set featuring versions of \'Run The World (Girls)\', \'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)\', \'Halo\' and the Destiny\'s Child classic \'Survivor\'. \n\n Beyonce headlined at the Sound of Change concert \n\n \"It\'s time for chang... Not Everyone Loves 'the Book Of Mormon' Huffington Post - Mar 22, 2013 '\n LONDON -- Broadway sensation \"The Book of Mormon\" has arrived in London to a warm reception from theatergoers and mixed notices from critics. \n\n Reviewers delivered their verdicts on the show Friday, after an opening night that counted celebrities including \"Homeland\" star Damien Lewis and Duran Duran singer <mark>Simon Le Bon</mark> among the audience. \n Many praised its wit and energy, though the Daily Telegraph\'s Charles Spencer said \"its mixture of satire and ... Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Simon Le Bon.

CHILDHOOD 1958 Birth Born on October 27, 1958. TEENAGE Show Less He worked on a kibbutz â an Israeli collective community â in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to study drama at the University of Birmingham before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran in 1980. Duran Duran was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. … Read More The band went through a long succession of lineup changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with disco, funk and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice.

Read Less TWENTIES 1980 21 Years Old Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran were rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential vocalist. … Read More As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poems he had writtenâseveral of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums. After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try Duran out for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham, London and Nottingham, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Connor led to a record deal with EMI Records in December. Read Less 1981 22 Years Old The band's first album, Duran Duran, was released in 1981, and they quickly became famous as part of the New Romantic movement.

… Read More Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and the live album Arena (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break.. Read Less 1984 25 Years Old Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas". … Read More Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988). The group added guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and drummer Sterling Campbell (his only album as a member of the band) and recorded the album Liberty (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late-1980s.

Read Less 1985 26 Years Old … In late 2006, Le Bon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, 'Synesthesia', by co-writing the theme song 'Nobody Knows' along with Nick Wood. <br /><br />In 2010, Le Bon collaborated on the song "Record Collection", the title track from Mark Ronson's third album. In the song, Le Bon is heard singing the chorus, along with Mark Ronson and hip hop artist Wiley. The song does not have a current single release date. Ronson later produced Duran Duran's 2010 album All You Need Is Now. <br /><br />In the early 1980s, Simon was engaged to his then longtime girlfriend, model-turned-actress Claire Stansfield. While still with Stansfield, Le Bon wooed young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modelling agency to track her down, even as magazines speculated on a possible wedding with Stansfield. Read Less Simon and Yasmin married on 27 December 1985.

… Read More After Yasmin suffered two miscarriages, the couple had three daughters, including Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born 25 August 1989), a model like her mother.<br /><br /> While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht, Drum, lost its keel and capsized during the Fastnet race, just off Falmouth, along the southern coast of Cornwall. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped under the boat, inside the hull, for forty minutes. They were all rescued by the Royal Navy, using a Search and Rescue helicopter from 771 Naval Air Squadron based near Helston. The rescue earned the Rescue Diver, POACMN L Slater, a George Medal. Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race, coming in third overall in elapsed time.

Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum â The Journey Of A Lifetime and the book One Watch at a Time written by Drums skipper, Skip Novak. Read Less THIRTIES Show Less Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album, featuring the top-10 single "Ordinary World". … Read More Several months into the extensive worldwide concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered a torn vocal cord, and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered.<br /><br /> In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You, and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favourite artists, (Jim Morrison, Lou Reed and Elvis Costello), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. Read Less That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. … Read More Le Bon described the event to Jam!

Showbiz thusly: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man." Read Less 1997 38 Years Old When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning. … Read More The successive two albums with Le Bon, Rhodes and Cuccurullo, Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash (2000) were not commercial successes.<br /><br /> In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, Astronaut, for Epic Records. Astronaut was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade.<br /><br /> Before Duran Duran reunited in 1986, Le Bon formed the band Arcadia with fellow Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor.

The band had a UK/US top 10 hit with their first single "Election Day", and released one album, So Red The Rose in 1985.<br /><br /> While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire recording history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the Whitbread Round the World Race, he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady Of The Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum (1987). "Grey Lady Of The Sea" was released as a single in Japan in 1988. Read Less 1998 39 Years Old In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan. Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director". … Read More In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon.

Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills. Read Less FORTIES 2000 41 Years Old Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo's side-venture TV Mania. … Read More In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious, from the album Liberty. (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat. Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings) Read Less 2005 46 Years Old Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. … Read More During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced Drum in the Fastnet race, borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the Scottish multi car garage owner Sir Arnold Clark) to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity.

Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing Drum (and the other competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan. He appears as the narrator in a documentary film project called The Weekend Sailor which is about a Swan 65 sailing yacht called Sayula II that won the first Whitbread Round the World sailing race in 1973/74.<br /><br /> In 2009 Le Bon (who describes himself as a "concerned agnostic") contributed an essay to the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine. Read Less FIFTIES Simon Le Bon artist page Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia. Early life: Simon John Charles Le Bon was the first-born son of John Le Bon and Ann-Marie, followed by two further sons, David and Jonathan. He is descended from exiled French Huguenot stock.

His mother encouraged his artistic talent when he was six years old by entering him in a screen test for a Persil washing powder TV advert; he won and starred as the little boy with the off-white shirt, but had no spoken lines. He was a member of the local church choir from a young age, but was also trained as an actor. Simon went to Pinner County Grammar School, the same school that Elton John attended some years earlier. He worked as a theatre porter at Northwick Park Hospital Accident and Casualty, and also auditioned for a punk band at Harrow College. He appeared in a few television commercials and also in several theatre productions including Tom Brown's Schooldays in the West End of London. He worked on a kibbutz - an Israeli collective community - in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to study drama at the University of Birmingham before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran in 1980.

Career: Duran Duran: Duran Duran was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. The band went through a long succession of lineup changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with disco, funk and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice. Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran was rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential vocalist. As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poems he had written--several of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums. After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match.

Le Bon agreed to "try Duran Duran out for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham, London and Nottingham, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Connor led to a record deal with EMI Records in December. The band's first album, Duran Duran, was released in 1981, and they quickly shot to fame as part of the New Romantic movement. Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and the live album Arena (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break. Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas". Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988).

The group added guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and drummer Sterling Campbell (his only album as a member of the band) and recorded the album Liberty (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late-1980s. Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album. Several months into the extensive worldwide concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered from a torn vocal cord, and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered. In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You, and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favourite artists, (Jim Morrison, Lou Reed and Elvis Costello), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. Le Bon described the event to Jam!

Showbiz thusly: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man." When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning. The successive two albums with Le Bon, Rhodes and Cuccurullo, Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash (2000) were not commercial successes. In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, Astronaut, for Epic Records. Astronaut was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade. Arcadia: Before Duran Duran reunited in 1986, Le Bon formed the band Arcadia with fellow Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor. The band had a UK/US top 10 hit with their first single "Election Day", and released one album, So Red The Rose in 1985.

Solo excursions: While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire recording history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the Whitbread Round the World Race, he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady Of The Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum (1987). "Grey Lady Of The Sea" was released as a single in Japan in 1988. In 1989, for Jonathan Elias' Requiem For The Americas project, Le Bon contributed "Follow In My Footsteps", with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs on background vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year. In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan. Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director".

In 1999, Le Bon was reported to be involved in Napalm Death's new album, a collaboration brought about through their shared love of hometown Birmingham. In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills. Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo's side-venture TV Mania. In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious, from the album Liberty. (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat. Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings) In late 2006, Le Bon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, 'Synesthesia', by co-writing the theme song 'Nobody Knows' along with Nick Wood.

Shinzou Sound is a group of creative collaborators specializing in manga, music, web design and popular culture. They joined forces with the simple concept of merging their talents in an effort to deliver the new entertainment of music and manga in an innovative way. Exclusive songs, inspired by the manga story were commissioned from international and Japanese DJs, and the story was launched in fortnightly episodes on the Net, with the individual songs available free through iTunes Japan. In 2010, Le Bon collaborated on the song "Record Collection", the title track from Mark Ronson's third album. In the song, Le Bon is heard singing the chorus, along with Mark Ronson and hip hop artist Wiley. The song does not have a current single release date. Ronson later produced Duran Duran's 2010 album All You Need Is Now. Personal life: In the early 1980s, Simon was engaged to his then longtime girlfriend, model-turned-actress Claire Stansfield. While still with Claire, Le Bon wooed young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modeling agency to track her down, even as magazines speculated on a possible wedding with Stansfield.

Simon and Yasmin married on 27 December 1985. After Yasmin suffered two miscarriages, the couple has three daughters: Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born 25 August 1989 - a model like her mother), Saffron Sahara (born 25 September 1991) and Tallulah Pine (born 10 September 1994). The family, along with their dogs, a Pug named Luigi, a Chihuahua named Tinka and a Boston Terrier named Cecil, live in Putney, South West London. While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht, Drum, lost its keel and capsized during the Fastnet race, just off Falmouth, along the southern coast of Cornwall. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped underwater, inside the hull, for forty minutes. They were all rescued by the Royal Navy, using a Search and Rescue helicopter from 771 Naval Air Squadron based near Helston. The rescue earned the Rescue Diver, POACMN L Slater, a George Medal.

Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race, coming in third overall in elapsed time. Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum - The Journey Of A Lifetime and the book One Watch at a Time written by Drum's skipper, Skip Novak. It was Le Bon's participation in the Whitbread that led to the phrase rock star sailor. Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced Drum in the Fastnet race, borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the Scottish multi car garage owner Sir Arnold Clark) to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity. Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing Drum (and the other competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan.

In 2009 Le Bon (who describes himself as a "concerned agnostic") contributed an essay to the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine. Le Bon injured his vocal cords and was unable to finish his 2011 summer tour. He remarked, "I am trying to be philosophical." In a 2011 interview with New York, Le Bon stated that he currently enjoys the bands Scissor Sisters, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, and 30 Seconds to Mars--all of which Le Bon cites as having a similar "feathers-and-mascara" image. Le Bon is a supporter of Manchester United. Simon Le Bon : definition of Simon Le Bon and synonyms of Simon Le Bon (English) 5 External links Early life Simon John Charles Le Bon was the first born son of John Le Bon and Ann-Marie, followed by two further sons, David and Jonathan. He is descended from exiled French Huguenot stock.

His mother encouraged his artistic talent when he was six years old by entering him in a screen test for a Persil washing powder TV advert; he won and starred as the little boy with the off-white shirt, but had no spoken lines. He was a member of the local church choir from a young age, but was also trained as an actor. Simon went to Pinner County Grammar School , the same school that Elton John attended some years earlier. He worked as a theatre porter at Northwick Park Hospital Accident and Casualty, and also auditioned for a punk band at Harrow College. He appeared in a few television commercials and also in several theatre productions including Tom Brown's Schooldays in the West End of London . He worked on a kibbutz – an Israeli collective community – in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to study drama at the University of Birmingham before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran in 1980. Career Duran Duran Duran Duran was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere.

The band went through a long succession of lineup changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with disco, funk and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice. Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran was rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential vocalist. As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poems he had written—several of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums. [1] After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try [Duran Duran] out for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham, London and Nottingham, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Connor led to a record deal with EMI Records in December.

The band's first album, Duran Duran , was released in 1981, and they quickly shot to fame as part of the New Romantic movement. Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and the live album Arena (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break. Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, " Do They Know It's Christmas ". Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988). The group added guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and drummer Sterling Campbell (his only album as a member of the band) and recorded the album Liberty (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late-1980s.

Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album . Several months into the extensive worldwide concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered from a torn vocal cord , and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered. In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You , and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favourite artists, ( Jim Morrison , Lou Reed and Elvis Costello ), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. Le Bon described the event to Jam! Showbiz thusly: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man." When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning.

The successive two albums with Le Bon, Rhodes and Cuccurullo, Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash (2000) were not commercial successes. Simon Le Bon performing in 2005 In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, Astronaut , for Epic Records . Astronaut was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade. Arcadia Before Duran Duran reunited in 1986, Le Bon formed the band Arcadia with fellow Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor . The band had a UK/US top 10 hit with their first single " Election Day ", and released one album, So Red The Rose in 1985. Solo excursions While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire recording history, he has also dabbled in solo outings.

In 1985, for the Whitbread Round the World Race , he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady Of The Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum (1987). "Grey Lady Of The Sea" was released as a single in Japan in 1988. In 1989, for Jonathan Elias ' Requiem For The Americas project, Le Bon contributed "Follow In My Footsteps", with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs on background vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year. In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan . Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director". In 1999, Le Bon was reported to be involved in Napalm Death's new album, a collaboration brought about through their shared love of hometown Birmingham.

In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills. Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo 's side-venture TV Mania . In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious , from the album Liberty . (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat. Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings) In late 2006, Le Bon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, 'Synesthesia', by co-writing the theme song 'Nobody Knows' along with Nick Wood. Shinzou Sound is a group of creative collaborators specializing in manga, music, web design and popular culture.

They joined forces with the simple concept of merging their talents in an effort to deliver the new entertainment of music and manga in an innovative way. Exclusive songs, inspired by the manga story were commissioned from international and Japanese DJs, and the story was launched in fortnightly episodes on the Net, with the individual songs available free through iTunes Japan. In 2010, Le Bon collaborated on the song "Record Collection", the title track from Mark Ronson 's third album . In the song, Le Bon is heard singing the chorus, along with Mark Ronson and hip hop artist Wiley . The song does not have a current single release date. Ronson later produced Duran Duran's 2010 album All You Need Is Now . Personal life In the early 1980s, Simon was engaged to his then longtime girlfriend, model-turned-actress Claire Stansfield . While still with Claire, Le Bon wooed young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modeling agency to track her down, even as magazines speculated on a possible wedding with Stansfield. Simon and Yasmin married on 27 December 1985.

After Yasmin suffered two miscarriages , the couple has three daughters: Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born August 25, 1989 - a model like her mother), [2] Saffron Sahara (born September 25, 1991) and Tallulah Pine (born September 10, 1994).[ citation needed ] The family, along with their dogs, a Pug named Luigi, a Chihuahua named Tinka and a Boston Terrier named Cecil, live in Putney , South West London. While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht , Drum, lost her keel and capsized during the Fastnet race , just off Falmouth , along the southern coast of Cornwall . Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped underwater, inside the hull, for forty minutes. Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race , coming in third overall in elapsed time.

Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum – The Journey Of A Lifetime and the book One Watch at a Time [3] written by Drum's skipper, Skip Novak . It was Le Bon's participation in the Whitbread that led to the phrase rock star sailor. Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced 'Drum' in the Fastnet race , borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the Scottish multi car garage owner Sir Arnold Clark ) to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity. Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing 'Drum' (and 'Drum's' competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan. [4] In 2009 Le Bon (who describes himself as a "concerned agnostic") [5] contributed an essay to the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine .

Le Bon injured his vocal cords and was unable to finish his 2011 summer tour. He remarked, "I am trying to be philosophical." [6] In a 2011 interview with New York, Le Bon stated that he currently enjoys the bands Scissor Sisters , The Killers , Fall Out Boy , and 30 Seconds to Mars -- all of which Le Bon cites as having a similar "feathers-and-mascara" image. [7] Le Bon is a supporter of Manchester United . References

Question: What was the name of Simon Le Bon's maxi yacht, that lost her keel and capsized during the Fastnet race off Falmouth, on the southern coast of Cornwall, in 1985?
Answer: Drum