Ahead of their performance at the virtual David Bowie tribute Just For One Day, Duran Duran have dropped their cover of the late legend’s “Five Years.”
The band kick up the synths for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars rendition, as Simon Le Bon is bolstered by backup singers for the climatic chorus. “Your face, your race, the way that you talk,” he sings. “I kiss you, you’re beautiful, I want you to walk.”
“My life as a teenager was all about David Bowie,” Le Bon said in a statement. “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.”
The band will appear at Just For One Day on Friday, January 8th, on what would have been Bowie’s 74th birthday. Boy George, Adam Lambert, Michael C. Hall, Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter, Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, and more will also perform. Tickets for the livestream are on sale now for $2. All proceeds will be donated to Save the Children, which Bowie supported with funds from his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997.
Duran Duran will celebrate their 40th anniversary with a brief tour overseas, kicking off on June 13th in Dublin, Ireland on June 13th. They’ll spend the summer making stops along the U.K., wrapping up in Ibiza, Spain on October 8th. More information can be found on the band’s website.