50 free Duran Duran trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free Duran Duran trivia questions with answers. Duran Duran were the band MTV was built for: five faces from Birmingham, videos shot in Sri Lanka and Antigua, and a run of hits that had the British press calling them the Fab Five. This Duran Duran trivia quiz covers all of it, from the Rum Runner nightclub and the Barbarella villain who gave them their name to Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, the Bond theme, Live Aid, the side projects, the 1990s comeback with Ordinary World and their 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. The 50 questions run from easy (who sings lead?) to genuinely hard (which single blocked Bruce Springsteen from number one?), so casual fans and people who owned the 12-inch night versions can both play. Every answer is checked against the band's documented history and interviews, not fan trivia lists.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which English city was Duran Duran formed in 1978?
Birmingham
Keyboardist Nick Rhodes and John Taylor started it with art-school friend Stephen Duffy, later of The Lilac Time.
Q 02Duran Duran took their name from a villain in which 1968 science-fiction film?
Barbarella
Milo O'Shea played Dr. Durand Durand; the band named themselves the day after the BBC broadcast the film.
Q 03Which nightclub in the band's home city made Duran Duran its resident band in 1980, its owners becoming their managers?
The Rum Runner
The Berrow brothers paid the band to work as doormen, DJs and barmen when they weren't rehearsing.
Q 04How did Simon Le Bon come to audition for Duran Duran in May 1980?
An ex-girlfriend who worked at the club recommended him
Le Bon was a drama student; the first song completed with him was 'Sound of Thunder'.
Q 05How many members of Duran Duran's classic line-up share the surname Taylor?
Three
John, Andy and Roger Taylor are unrelated; Andy answered a Melody Maker ad from Newcastle.
Q 06What was Duran Duran's first hit single, which peaked at number 12 in early 1981?
Planet Earth
Its video was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who would go on to shoot most of their most famous clips.
Q 07Which directing duo shot the controversial 'Girls on Film' video in August 1981?
Godley & Creme
It was filmed just two weeks after MTV launched and was intended for nightclubs; MTV had to heavily edit it.
Q 08Which record label signed Duran Duran in December 1980 after a bidding war?
EMI
The band admitted 'a certain patriotism' toward the label of the Beatles swung the decision.
Q 09Which May 1982 Duran Duran album produced 'Hungry Like the Wolf', 'Save a Prayer' and its title track?
Rio
John Taylor came up with the title, and the band never appear on the cover, a Patrick Nagel painting instead.
Q 10Which artist painted the woman on the cover of Rio?
Patrick Nagel
Malcolm Garrett designed the sleeve; the band felt their photos and videos were enough without a group shot.
Q 11In which country was the 'Hungry Like the Wolf' video filmed?
Sri Lanka
Director Russell Mulcahy had just visited; Andy Taylor was hospitalised after drinking lagoon water on the shoot.
Q 12'Hungry Like the Wolf' won the first ever Grammy in which category in 1984?
Best Short Form Music Video
The band also took the inaugural Long Form award for their 1983 video album.
Q 13On which Caribbean island was the 'Rio' video, with the band on a yacht, filmed?
Antigua
Six of Rio's nine tracks got videos; 'The Chauffeur' was shot in London.
Q 21Which composer co-wrote 'A View to a Kill' with Duran Duran and recorded it with a 60-piece orchestra?
John Barry
The pair were nominated for a Golden Globe; the band saluted Barry at Coachella in 2011 after his death.
Q 22Which single kept 'A View to a Kill' at number two in the UK for three weeks?
Paul Hardcastle's '19'
It was the last track the classic five recorded together until their 2001 reunion.
Q 23At which venue did Duran Duran play Live Aid on 13 July 1985?
JFK Stadium, Philadelphia
Q 14Which member of the royal family publicly declared Duran Duran her favourite band?
Diana, Princess of Wales
The British press dubbed them 'the Fab Five', a nod to the Beatles' Fab Four.
Q 15What was Duran Duran's first UK number one single, which entered the chart at the top in 1983?
Is There Something I Should Know?
It was added to the US reissue of their debut album to feed America's demand for more music.
Q 16Which Duran Duran album is their only UK number one album?
Seven and the Ragged Tiger
Recorded as tax exiles in France, Montserrat and Sydney, it took over six months amid what Rhodes called 'barely controlled hysteria'.
Q 17Which Chic guitarist remixed 'The Reflex' into Duran Duran's first US number one?
Nile Rodgers
On the Billboard chart it was one of two songs, with Prince's 'When Doves Cry', that kept Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark' off the top.
Q 18Which Bruce Springsteen single did 'The Reflex' block from reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100?
Dancing in the Dark
Prince's 'When Doves Cry' did the same shortly after, leaving Springsteen stuck at number two.
Q 19'The Wild Boys' was inspired by a plan to film a novel by which Beat writer?
William S. Burroughs
Russell Mulcahy wanted the band to score his film; the video alone cost over a million pounds at Pinewood's 007 Stage.
Q 20'A View to a Kill' holds what distinction among James Bond theme songs?
The only one to top the US Hot 100
John Taylor, a lifelong Bond fan, drunkenly asked producer Cubby Broccoli at a party if he could write a theme for a fiver.
Le Bon's cracked falsetto in 'A View to a Kill' was dubbed 'the bum note heard round the world'; the five didn't play together again until 2003.
Q 24Which singer fronted The Power Station, the 1985 side project of John and Andy Taylor?
Robert Palmer
It began as a favour to model Bebe Buell, who wanted to cover T. Rex's 'Get It On'; Chic's Tony Thompson drummed.
Q 25Le Bon and Rhodes' 1985 side project Arcadia released which single from So Red the Rose as a top-ten hit?
Election Day
So Red the Rose featured Sting, Herbie Hancock and David Gilmour; Rhodes called both side projects 'commercial suicide'.
Q 26What was Simon Le Bon's maxi yacht, which capsized in the 1985 Fastnet Race, called?
Drum
He was trapped under the hull before rescue; twenty years later he raced the same boat in the Fastnet again.
Q 27Which two members left Duran Duran in 1986, before the recording of their fourth album?
Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor
Roger retired to the countryside with exhaustion; Andy signed a solo deal with MCA and had to be pursued legally to finish his parts.
Q 28Which ex-Missing Persons and Zappa guitarist joined Duran Duran in 1986 and stayed until 2001?
Warren Cuccurullo
He was hired as a session player for Notorious and became a full member by 1989.
Q 29Which rapper famously sampled Duran Duran's 1986 title-track single from their fourth album?
The Notorious B.I.G.
Nick Rhodes had earlier produced Kajagoogoo's number one 'Too Shy'.
Q 30Why is Duran Duran's 1993 self-titled album known by a nickname referring to a ceremony?
Its cover shows the members' parents' wedding photos
It revived the band with the worldwide top-ten hits 'Ordinary World' and 'Come Undone'.