Duran Duran have announced Jake Shears as their special guest for their upcoming tour.
The ‘Rio’ hitmakers are heading on the road for a string of shows in the UK and Ireland this spring and they will be joined by the Scissor Sisters frontman.
In a statement, he said: “I’m thrilled to announce that I’m going to be a Special Guest for Duran Duran on their ‘Future Past’ arena tour.
“It’s such an honour to be playing with them again. They are a massive inspiration with their continual run of incredible music.
“To say that I’m excited is an understatement. See you there!”
With Scissor Sisters, the ‘Take Your Mama’ singer joined Duran Duran on their ‘Reunion Tour’ in 2004, while bandmate Ana Matronic would later collaborate with them on 2010 album ‘All You Need Is Now’.
Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor commented: “We are absolutely delighted to be reuniting with Jake Shears for our 2023 UK/Ireland tour, as he supports his fabulous new album ‘Last Man Dancing’.
“The Scissor Sisters were such an important part of our Reunion Tour in 2004.
“We also welcome the incredible Lia Lia from Berlin. The first time we heard ‘I’m A Moth!’ we were all completely hooked.
“With the support of these two amazing artists, we couldn’t be more excited about our upcoming shows.”
Lia Lia, who completes the lineup, added: “When my manager called and broke the news about me going on tour with Duran Duran I locked myself in the bathroom, and the first thing I did was to call my mom.
“I’m beyond excited, thrilled and absolutely terrified!! Living legends. (sic)”
When the group announced the tour last November, he frontman Simon Le Bon revealed how “grateful” the band are for their continued success.
He said: “It’s remarkable to me that as a band, we are still hitting new milestones, still able to introduce the sound of DD to new generations of music lovers.
“We are truly grateful that we get to do what we do on a daily basis, and that we still love our job as much as we did when we started out some four decades ago.”
Duran Duran ‘Future Past’ UK and Ireland tour dates:
April 2023
29 – The AO Arena, Manchester
May 2023
1 – The O2, London
2 – The O2, London
4 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
5 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
7 – 3Arena, Dublin
9 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow