Duran Duran Emerging as one of the most successful bands of the
New Romantic scene in the early 1980s,
Duran Duran, of which Rhodes was a co–founding member, were innovators of the
music video and a leading band in the
MTV-driven
Second British Invasion of the US. By 1984, the band had achieved levels of fame similar to
Beatlemania. The band's first major hit was "
Girls on Film" (1981), from their
self-titled debut album, the popularity of which was enhanced by a controversial music video. The band's breakthrough second album was
Rio (1982), a worldwide hit. The band achieved rapid success, and Rhodes was a driving force throughout. An unschooled musician, he experimented with the sounds his
analogue synthesisers were capable of, but shied away from the "novelty" sounds of some other early synth bands. The distinctive warble of "
Save a Prayer", the keyboard stabs of "
A View to a Kill", and the string sounds of "
Come Undone" and "
Ordinary World" are some of his most recognisable creations, as well as the futuristic oscillating synth that characterised Duran Duran's self-titled first album. He popularised the
Crumar performer on the early records. Rhodes was also quick to recognise the potential of the music video, and pushed the band to put more effort into their early videos than seemed warranted at the time (before the advent of MTV). Barely twenty when the band hit major stardom, he cultivated an androgynous and sometimes flamboyant image, wore heavy makeup, and changed his hair colour at whim. By the late 1990s, Rhodes had begun writing lyrics for Duran Duran, as well as music. His digitally altered voice is heard on the title track to the 1997 album
Medazzaland. According to
Billboard, Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records. They achieved 30 top 40 singles in the
UK singles chart (14 of them top 10) and 21 top 40 singles in the US
Billboard Hot 100. The band have won numerous
awards throughout their career: two
Brit Awards including the 2004 award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, two
Grammy Awards, an
MTV Video Music Award for
Lifetime Achievement and a
Video Visionary Award from the
MTV Europe Music Awards. They were also awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. The band were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Record production Rhodes studied production techniques while in the studio with Duran Duran, eventually helping to mix several tracks on the
Rio album, and was a co-producer on many of the band's later albums. In early 1983, he discovered the band
Kajagoogoo and co-produced both their debut single "Too Shy" which became a UK no. 1 (prior to any of Duran's singles reaching no. 1) and their debut album
White Feathers. Rhodes and
Warren Cuccurullo wrote and produced three tracks for the
Blondie reunion album in 1996; the tracks were not used, but one song called "Pop Trash Movie" was later recorded by Duran Duran for the 2000 album
Pop Trash. In 2002, Rhodes co-produced and played additional synthesizers in nine tracks of the album
Welcome to the Monkey House by
the Dandy Warhols. In 2004 he produced British-based pop group
Riviera F for their debut EP
International Lover, published on Pop Cult/Tape Modern (Rhodes' & Stephen Duffy's label).
Side projects With Le Bon, Rhodes formed the side project
Arcadia while Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985. The band had a moody, keyboard-heavy sound, far more atmospheric than Duran Duran (or the hard rock of the other Duran splinter group of 1985 [John and Andy Taylor],
the Power Station). The band scored a major hit with "Election Day" and the band's only album,
So Red the Rose, went platinum in the US but was less successful in their native UK. The band never toured and was dissolved when Duran Duran regrouped in 1986. In 1999, Rhodes reunited with Duran Duran's original vocalist, Stephen Duffy, to create new music based on some of the earliest Duran music the two had written together. The result was the album
Dark Circles, released under the name
the Devils. Also in 1999, Rhodes had a small guest appearance (in voice only) as a Canadian bomber pilot in
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. In 2006 Rhodes and John Taylor collaborated on the compilation album
Only After Dark. In 2011 Rhodes along with
Andrew Wyatt and
Mark Ronson remixed
Depeche Mode's "
Personal Jesus" for the British electronic band's remix compilation
Remixes 2: 81–11. Also in 2011, Rhodes wrote the afterword to the award-winning '80s
7-inch vinyl cover art book
Put the Needle on the Record. In March 2013,
TV Mania made up of Rhodes and ex-Duran Duran guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, released
Bored with Prozac and the Internet?. Throughout the 1990s, Rhodes worked on this side project with Cuccurullo. To support the launch of the project, Rhodes had an exhibition of his photography, BEI INCUBI (Beautiful Nightmares) at the Vinyl Factory in
Chelsea, London on 7 March 2013. In 2021, Rhodes collaborated with
Stewart Bevan's daughter Wendy Bevan on the series of
Astronomia albums. In 2022, Rhodes collaborated with
Rob Crow,
Roy Mayorga,
Aaron Tanner, and more on a cover of
the Residents' song, "Mahogany Wood". ==Personal life==