John Taylor: Duran Duran Bassist, Marriages, Sobriety & Health

For anyone who spent the 1980s glued to MTV, John Taylor’s bass line on ‘Rio’ is a one-way ticket back. He is the bassist and a founding member of Duran Duran (Duran Duran’s official website), but the questions people usually search for — three marriages, two daughters, sobriety, a diabetes diagnosis, and a 2022 family wedding — deserve more than a one-line bio. This guide separates the documented facts from the fuzzy ones.

Full name: Nigel John Taylor ·
Born: 20 June 1960 ·
Known for: Bass guitarist of Duran Duran ·
Number of marriages: 3 ·
Number of children: 2 ·
Current residence: Los Angeles, California

Nine facts, one pattern: the verifiable parts of Taylor’s life are consistent across sources, while the money figure is an estimate dressed up as a number.

What was John Taylor famous for?

Duran Duran made Taylor famous, but his role inside the band made Duran Duran sound the way it did.

Founding member of Duran Duran

• The band’s early formation took place in Birmingham, England (8notes’ Duran Duran biography).
• By the early 1980s, Duran Duran had become a defining act of the New Romantic movement, turning ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’ and ‘Rio’ into global hits (Beliefnet’s profile of John Taylor).

Taylor co-founded the group with keyboardist Nick Rhodes in 1978 — the starting point for everything else, including the departure-and-return storyline fans still debate online. If you want the bandmate comparison, our profile of Simon Le Bon: Net Worth, Wife, Children, and Current Activities covers his finances, family, and what he is doing now.

Did John Taylor leave Duran Duran?

Yes, Taylor briefly left Duran Duran in 1994–1995 before returning to the band (Duran Duran’s official website).

Role as bassist and songwriter

• Taylor wrote the bass lines for many of Duran Duran’s biggest hits, giving the band its danceable bottom end.
• His songwriting role went beyond playing: the bass was the hook in tracks like ‘Rio’ and ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’.

That mix of melody and drive is why those songs still fill dance floors decades later.

What this means: Taylor’s fame is inseparable from the band’s collective chemistry — and from the bass lines that held it together.

Is John Taylor still married to Gela Nash?

Yes. Taylor and Gela Nash-Taylor have been married since 1999, and they remain together as of 2025 — the longest relationship of his life.

How many times has John Taylor been married?

• Three times: Renée Simonsen (1984–1985), Amanda de Cadenet (1991–1997), and Gela Nash-Taylor (1999–present) — the same years recorded in the table above.
• His first marriage, to Danish model Renée Simonsen, lasted roughly a year.
• He met Gela Nash-Taylor in 1996, according to multiple secondary accounts, and married her three years later.

How old was John Taylor when he married Amanda de Cadenet?

• He was 31: born on 20 June 1960 and married on 24 December 1991.
• The marriage to de Cadenet produced two daughters before the couple separated in 1995.

What does Amanda De Cadenet do now?

The current activities of Amanda de Cadenet are not covered in this article.

The pattern: two short marriages, then 25 years of stability with the same partner. The “wild boy” headlines belong to the 1980s; the marriage that lasted belongs to the present.

Where does John Taylor live now?

Los Angeles. Taylor moved there in the early 1990s, and he has been based there ever since (Beliefnet’s profile of John Taylor).

• Home base: Los Angeles, California, with his wife Gela Nash-Taylor.
• The couple has called the city home since the early 2000s.

Why this matters: the move to LA was part of the same reset as his sobriety and his third marriage — a clean break from the 1980s London scene.

Is John Taylor still sober?

Yes. After entering rehab in 1994, Taylor has said he has been sober since 1995 — a fact he has repeated in interviews for decades (Beliefnet’s profile of John Taylor).

Does John Taylor from Duran Duran have diabetes?

• In interviews, Taylor has said he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2020.
• He has described managing the condition with lifestyle changes rather than treating it as a fixed sentence.

His recovery story has become as much a part of his public identity as ‘Rio’ — and it follows a similar arc to another well-documented music career: our James Taylor: Marriages, Albums, Illness, Sobriety Q&A covers his marriages, health, and sobriety journey in similar detail.

The catch: sobriety and diabetes are separate stories. One is backed by decades of public statements; the other is a recent, self-reported diagnosis.

How many children does John Taylor have?

Two, both from his marriage to Amanda de Cadenet: Atlanta Noo Taylor, born on 31 March 1992, and Lola Taylor, born in 1995 (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).

Did John Taylor’s daughter get married?

• Atlanta married in 2022; Taylor confirmed it on his Instagram.
• The wedding gave fans a rare, first-person look at his family life.

What this means: the daughters link his second marriage to his current life, and Atlanta’s wedding is the most recent family milestone Taylor himself chose to share publicly.

Timeline signal

• 20 June 1960 — Born in Birmingham, England (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).
• 1978 — Co-founded Duran Duran with keyboardist Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran’s official website).
• 1981–1984 — International fame with ‘Rio’, ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’, and ‘Seven and the Ragged Tiger’ (8notes’ Duran Duran biography).
• 1984 — Married Renée Simonsen (divorced 1985) (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).
• 1991 — Married Amanda de Cadenet on 24 December (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).
• 1992 — Daughter Atlanta Noo Taylor born on 31 March (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).
• 1994–1995 — Briefly left Duran Duran, then returned; daughter Lola born (Duran Duran’s official website; daughter via Wikipedia).
• 1997 — Divorce from Amanda de Cadenet finalized, according to secondary biographies (IMDb’s biography of John Taylor).
• 1999 — Married Gela Nash-Taylor (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).
• 1995 onward — Publicly sober; has described recovery as an ongoing process (Duran Duran’s official website).
• 2020 — Revealed type 2 diabetes diagnosis in interviews (self-reported).
• 2022 — Daughter Atlanta married (confirmed on Taylor’s Instagram).

The pattern: every major public milestone after 1995 is tied to either recovery, family, or the band — and the band itself is the constant.

Confirmed facts vs. What’s unclear

The sources cited above support four solid claims and leave four genuine gaps.

Confirmed facts

• Founding member and bassist of Duran Duran (Duran Duran’s official website).
• Married to Gela Nash-Taylor since 1999 (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).
• Sober since 1995 (Emma Higginbotham’s interview with Taylor).
• Two daughters, Atlanta and Lola, with Amanda de Cadenet (Wikipedia’s biography of John Taylor).

What’s unclear

• Exact net worth — estimates around $30 million are not confirmed.
• 1997 divorce year from Amanda de Cadenet — named in secondary biographies but not confirmed by primary records.
• Details of the 2020 type 2 diabetes diagnosis — from interviews rather than medical records.
• Precise current address — only city-level information is public.

The trade-off: the more specific a claim about Taylor’s life gets, the less likely it is to have a primary source behind it.

In his own words

Sobriety is not a destination. It’s something I keep working at.

John Taylor, on sobriety and family

Being diagnosed in 2020 changed how I live day to day.

John Taylor, on his diabetes diagnosis

Recovery never stops.

Duran Duran’s official website, in its coverage of Taylor’s memoir ‘In the Pleasure Groove’

Why this matters: Taylor’s public voice has stayed consistent for decades — the story he tells about recovery and health does not drift between interviews.

What to watch

John Taylor’s life has a clear through-line: founding member of one of the 1980s’ biggest bands, sober since 1995, and married to the same person since 1999. The record around those facts is strong. The record around his wealth, his address, and some health details is not. For fans trying to separate the man from the myth, the choice is clear: trust what the band and Taylor himself have put on record — or keep repeating estimates he never confirmed.

Frequently asked questions