Global music icons Duran Duran have announced a new arena tour featuring twelve dates in the U.K. and Europe. The concerts will take place in October 2026 and mark another highlight in what is already a special year for the band: accompanied by the release of the euphoric new single “Free To Love” featuring Nile Rodgers, another headlining performance at London’s BST Hyde Park on July 5, and a series of concerts in nine major European markets in June and July.In addition to their first full UK arena tour in three years, the concert series includes performances at the Unity Arena in Oslo on October 2, the Avicii Arena in Stockholm on October 3, the Barclays Arena in Hamburg on October 5, the LANXESS arena in Cologne on October 8, the ING Arena in Brussels on October 26, and the Accor Arena in Paris on October 28. Additional dates are to be announced shortly. The tour is particularly significant for fans in Hamburg and Cologne, as Duran Duran will be performing there for the first time in over twenty years.The new single “Free To Love” reunites Duran Duran with their longtime collaborator Nile Rodgers. The high-energy song blends the band’s signature style with a modern dancefloor sound and has already received widespread praise: NME called it a “funk-inspired call to action,” CLASH described it as “brilliant disco synth-pop,” The Sun called it “the perfect summer song,” and Classic Pop Magazine praised its “euphoric groove.” Various remixes of the song will also be released over the course of the summer, including previously released club versions by Horse Meat Disco and DJ White Shadow.“Free To Love” is being released during an extraordinary year for Duran Duran, which has already included a prestigious multi-day residency at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas as well as a headlining performance at the BeachLife Festival in California. An extensive summer tour through Europe will follow in June and July.Duran Duran ranks among the most successful and influential pop bands in music history. With well over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Birmingham-founded band has shaped Generations—with hits like “Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Girls on Film,” and “Ordinary World.” Longtime band members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, and Roger Taylor are known for their electrifying live shows and their groundbreaking synth-pop sound.Even today, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees impressively demonstrate why Duran Duran belongs among the musical elite: sold-out tours and acclaimed releases—including their sixteenth studio album, *Danse Macabre*, from 2023, which became the band’s tenth UK Top 5 album. The band remains a fixture on the live music scene: Following sold-out arena tours in the UK and North America as part of their “Future Past Tour,” a spectacular Halloween headline show at the Manchester Co-op Live Arena in 2025, and receiving the “Città di Sanremo” award at last year’s Sanremo Festival in Italy —forty years after their debut there—Duran Duran are once again looking ahead in 2026. Alongside new vinyl releases of *The Wedding Album* and *Thank You*, the band is hitting the road again and kicking off an extensive European tour this summer.
Translated with DeepL
