Loss of voice is always a risk for successful pop singers.
But the manner in which the Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon sustained his loss would cause nightmares to fellow musicians.
It struck during the band's rendition of their hit Hungry Like the Wolf in front a packed show in Cannes last May. Le Bon was gearing up to deliver the song's famous full-throttle chorus, except nothing came out.
"It was so shocking, so unexpected," recalls Le Bon. "I did experience voice problems before but usually it occurs incrementally. It occurs due to a heavy schedule, a lot of singing, it starts to get slowly bad. This happened once in a show, I couldn't sing so I had to leave the stage but this time I was singing fine until a point and it just went bang!"
Le Bon somehow managed to finish the show with most of his upper range incapacitated; a real problem when the band's trademark is its soaring choruses.
However, worse than the newspaper headlines - "Le Bon's voice is Le Gone!" cried a London tabloid - was the fact that they had just begun touring their latest back-to-form album All You Need Is Now. The band had to cancel all remaining dates while Le Bon recovered from damaging his vocal cords.
He explains not being able to sing for at least three months produced uncomfortable bouts of soul searching.
"I felt like I lost my purpose," he admits. "I didn't realise before it happened how much I defined myself as a singer.
"You begin to revaluate your worth, purpose and who you are in a way." After months of rehabilitation working with a voice therapist, the band slowly eased their way back to the limelight earlier this year with a well-received European tour.
The group will kick off their latest run of shows in Dubai next Thursday at The Sevens Stadium.
Le Bon states spirits are high within the group despite last year's disappointment. He was also looking forward to mastering the new singing techniques obtained from the rehab sessions.
"From the voice therapist, I learnt a lot of good stuff," he says. "She taught me great techniques and a new way of singing."
The tour finds the group in an unusual situation of performing songs that feel fresh to them but familiar to fans.
"It does feel like we are trying to play catch-up, the album still feels very new to us," he says. "But there are some favourites on this new album. We can hear that when we play."
One of which is their latest single Girl Panic! featuring The Scissors Sisters Ana Matronic. The track sounds like vintage Duran Duran, with it's swaggering synths and Le Bon's passionate vocals. Even the super-slick video taps into the group's famed 1980s, starring a bevy of supermodels including Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford and Eva Herzigova.
Le Bon says the band's return to their 1980s roots - after the ill-inspired foray into R&B with the 2007 album Red Carpet Massacre - was largely inspired by All You Need is Now's producer and lifelong fan Mark Ronson.
"He was very strong minded," says Le Bon. "He was determined to create an album that fans will connect with."
Was that tough to take, especially from a young hotshot producer?
"Not really. I really did give everything to Red Carpet Massacre and working with Timberland and Justin Timberlake. But at the end we created a white-urban album. Frankly, it's not what our fans wanted to hear, so in a way we screwed up a little bit."
Ronson also pushed the band "to reclaim our territory", one currently dominated by the likes of Franz Ferdinand, The Kaiser Chiefs and The Killers.
"But I didn't view it that way," Le Bon says. "I just wanted to make a record that sounded good. I don't think of these bands mentioned as Duran Duran's territory. I think of it as music I understand and like."
Le Bon says he doesn't bother thinking about what defines Duran Duran's sound. He rebuffs the suggestion it could be partly due to the sky-scraping choruses and that many songs act as markers in many fans' lives.
"Not really," he laughs. "Each song is a story that I am telling. It's this urge to communicate, that's what it is all about for me. I don't have this overview of what is going on. It is difficult to stand on stage and actually do the job without starting to think of what it means to people while you are doing it."
Duran Duran perform on Thursday at The Sevens Stadium, Dubai. Tickets start from Dh300 from www.timeouttickets.com. Doors open 6pm, show starts 9pm
sasaeed@thenational.ae
UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa, Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammad Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoon Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Celtic Prince, David Liska (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).
7.05pm: Conditions Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Grand Argentier, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 2,200m
Winner: Arch Gold, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Ibn Malik, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
10pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ILT20%20UAE%20stars
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All%20We%20Imagine%20as%20Light
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DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Company%C2%A0profile
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Day 2, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dinesh Chandimal has inherited a challenging job, after being made Sri Lanka’s Test captain. He responded in perfect fashion, with an easy-natured century against Pakistan. He brought up three figures with a majestic cover drive, which he just stood and admired.
Stat of the day – 33 It took 33 balls for Dilruwan Perera to get off the mark. His time on zero was eventful enough. The Sri Lankan No 7 was given out LBW twice, but managed to have both decisions overturned on review. The TV replays showed both times that he had inside edged the ball onto his pad.
The verdict In the two previous times these two sides have met in Abu Dhabi, the Tests have been drawn. The docile nature of proceedings so far makes that the likely outcome again this time, but both sides will be harbouring thoughts that they can force their way into a winning position.
'Will%20of%20the%20People'
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All Blacks line-up for third Test
J Barrett; I Dagg, A Lienert-Brown, N Laumape, J Savea; B Barrett, A Smith; J Moody, C Taylor, O Franks, B Retallick, S Whitelock, J Kaino, S Cane, K Read (capt).
Replacements: N Harris, W Crockett, C Faumuina, S Barrett, A Savea, TJ Perenara, A Cruden, M Fekitoa.
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Henrik Stenson's finishes at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship:
2006 - 2
2007 - 8
2008 - 2
2009 - MC
2010 - 21
2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8