One of the proudest moments ever for Duranies worldwide took place last Friday in London’s Hyde Park, where Duran Duran played to over 50,000 people to mark the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games. Our hearts swelled as the band represented England amongst three other UK bands (Snow Patrol from Northern Ireland, Stereophonics from Wales and Paolo Nutini from Scotland).
 
Duran Duran opened with “Planet Earth” and went on to totally nail some of  their biggest hits, including “A View To A Kill” and “Save A Prayer.” “The Reflex” was accompanied by a fly over from the Red Arrows, and Simon Le Bon dedicated “Ordinary World”  to “the whole world,” adding, “may we have a peaceful games.” Duran Duran also showed off “Girl Panic!” from their latest album, All You Need is Now.
 

 
Simon wore an instantly iconic “Union Jacket,” dreamed up by John Taylor and designed by the legendary Antony Price, who has been outfitting the band for nearly thirty years. Click HERE for the full story of how the jacket came to be, as told by Duran Duran’s on-tour wardrobe stylist, Jeffrey Bryant.
 

 
We’ve had the great pleasure of watching the band evolve over the years through the lens of rock photographer extraordinaire Carsten Windhorst, who was on hand to shoot these incredible photographs. Click HERE to see Carsten’s full gallery from Hyde Park.
 

 
Click HERE for a free audio download of Duran Duran’s Olympic Ceremony concert in Hyde Park.
 

Thanks to the magic of the internets, fans around the world got an unexpected treat yesterday when Duran Duran’s entire performance was broadcast live from the Lucca Summer Festival via Italy’s Radio 2 web site. The show was incredible, with the band in top form and Simon’s voice clear and strong. In case you missed it, you can download the whole thing HERE. Get it while it’s hot.

Thanks to the cool cats over at Duran Duran lolz for sharing the link.