Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

and its offshoot

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

. Le Bon has received three

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

from the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

, including the award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

Early life

Le Bon was born on 27 October 1958, on his father's birthday, in Bushey Maternity Hospital in Bushey, Hertfordshire, the first of three boys for Ann-Marie Le Bon, followed by his younger brothers, David and Jonathan (b. 1965). His mother encouraged his artistic talent when he was six years old by entering him in a screen test for a

Persil Persil is a German brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Henkel around the world except in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Latin America (except Mexico), China, Australia and New Zealand, where it is manufactured and mar ...

washing powder TV advert, which proved successful. He was a member of the local church

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

from a young age, and was trained as an actor.

Education

Le Bon went to

Pinner County Grammar School Pinner County Grammar School was a grammar school in Pinner, Middlesex, from 1937 to 1974. From 1974 to 1982 it became Pinner Junior College and then Pinner Sixth Form College. Pinner County Grammar School was built to accommodate 508 boys and gir ...

and

Nower Hill High School Nower Hill High School is a secondary academy school with a sixth form, in Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow. The school currently has around 300 pupils in each year group including over 400 in the Sixth form, making over 1900 pupils in t ...

. In 1978, he completed an art foundation course at Harrow School of Art, before studying drama at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Career

Before Duran Duran

For a time Le Bon worked as a theatre porter at

Northwick Park Hospital Northwick Park Hospital (NWPH) is a major National Health Service hospital situated near the town of Harrow, London, Harrow, North West London, managed by the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. It is located off Watford Road in th ...

Accident and Casualty, and also sang in a punk band called Dog Days at Harrow School of Art. He appeared in a few

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s and also in several

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

productions including ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

'' in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. Le Bon worked on a kibbutz – an Israeli

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

– in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to study drama at the

before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran in 1980.

Duran Duran

was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and

Nick Rhodes Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates, 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member, keyboardist, and only continuous member of the band Duran Duran. He is also informally monikered as "The Controller ...

along with singer-songwriter

Stephen Duffy Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo perform ...

in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. The band went through a long succession of line-up changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice. Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a

bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but a ...

at the Rum Runner

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

where Duran Duran were rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential lead vocalist. As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

he had written—several of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran studio albums. After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try uran Duranout for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham, London and Nottingham, and a national tour supporting

Hazel O'Connor Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''. Care ...

led to a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

in December that year. The band's debut studio album, ''

'', was released in 1981, and they quickly became famous as part of the

New Romantic The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...

movement. Three more albums followed in quick succession: ''

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

'' (1982), ''

Seven and the Ragged Tiger ''Seven and the Ragged Tiger'' is the third studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 21 November 1983 through EMI and Capitol Records. It was co-produced by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and the band. Following their deci ...

'' (1983) and the live album ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'' (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band were ready for a break. Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the Band Aid charity single "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

" which was recorded at

Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

, London on 25 November 1984. Le Bon's vocal appears fourth on the song after

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

and

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

sing their lines. Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing '' Notorious'' (1986) and '' Big Thing'' (1988). The group added guitarist

Warren Cuccurullo Warren Bruce Cuccurullo (born December 8, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, restaurant owner and former body builder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s ...

and drummer Sterling Campbell and recorded the studio album ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

'' (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late 1980s. Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with '' The Wedding Album'', featuring the top-10 single " Ordinary World". Several months into the extensive worldwide concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered a torn

vocal cord In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech ...

, and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered. In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album ''

Thank You "''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...

'', and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favourite artists, (

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

during a "Children of Bosnia"

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

for War Child. Le Bon described the event to Jam! Showbiz thusly: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man". When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning of their recording career. The successive two studio albums with Le Bon, Rhodes and Cuccurullo, ''

Medazzaland ''Medazzaland'' is the ninth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran. It was released on 14 October 1997 by Capitol Records. The album was never officially released physically in Europe until 2022, and was solely released in North ...

'' (1997) and ''

Pop Trash ''Pop Trash'' is the tenth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran. It was released on 19 June 2000 by Hollywood Records. ''Pop Trash'' was the band's first release after parting ways with EMI, with whom they had been signed since 198 ...

'' (2000) were not commercial successes. Simon le bon

In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new studio album, ''

Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

'', for

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. ''Astronaut'' was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single " (Reach Up for The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade.

Arcadia

Before Duran Duran reunited in 1986, Le Bon formed the band

with Nick Rhodes. The band had a UK/US top 10 hit with their first single "

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...

", and released one studio album, ''

So Red the Rose ''So Red the Rose'' is the only studio album by the Duran Duran-spinoff group Arcadia, released in 1985. It included the singles "Election Day", " Goodbye Is Forever" and " The Flame". The album peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200 in January ...

'' in 1985.

Solo excursions

While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire recording history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the

Whitbread Round the World Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

, he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady of the Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called ''Drum'' (1987). "Grey Lady of the Sea" was released as a single in Japan in 1988. In 1989, for

Jonathan Elias Jonathan Elias (born 1956) is an American composer best known for his film soundtracks. Background Elias was born in New York City in 1956. He is of Jewish-Hungarian background. Elias started playing piano at the age of six, and was composin ...

' ''Requiem for the Americas'' project, Le Bon contributed "Follow in My Footsteps", with

the Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), " Hazy Shade ...

' Susanna Hoffs providing backing vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year. In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director". In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

comedy film '' Love Kills'' (1998). Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran studio album ''

'' along with

and

's side-venture

TV Mania TV Mania was a British-American electronic band founded in 1995 that consisted of keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo (both of Duran Duran), long-time Duran Duran keyboard tech and collaborator Mark Tinley (a.k.a. Mark Ty-Whar ...

. In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single "

Serious Serious may refer to: * Seriousness, an attitude of gravity, solemnity, persistence, or earnestness * ''Serious'' (TV series), a BBC children's television show Albums * ''Serious'' (Luther Allison album) or the title song, 1987 * ''Serious'' ( ...

", from the studio album ''

'' (1990). (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat. Simon Le Bon – Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings) In late 2006, Le Bon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

project, ''Synesthesia'', by co-writing the theme song "Nobody Knows" along with Nick Wood. In 2010, Le Bon collaborated on the song "Record Collection", the title track from

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

's third studio album. In the song, Le Bon is heard singing the chorus, along with

and hip hop artist

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

. Ronson later produced Duran Duran's 2010 studio album ''

All You Need Is Now ''All You Need Is Now'' is the thirteenth studio album by English New wave music, new wave band Duran Duran. Produced by Mark Ronson, a truncated version of the album was released digitally on 21 December 2010. A physical package was released on ...

'', and 2015's ''

Paper Gods ''Paper Gods'' is the fourteenth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 11 September 2015 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by Mr Hudson and Joshua Blair, who had worked with the band on ''All You Need Is ...

''. Since 2020, he has been hosting the music show ''WHOOOSH!'' with Katy Krassner. Originally on the Duran Duran website, the show moved to

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

and then to

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

where it airs on the Volume channel. The duo play eight songs per week and discuss them. Le Bon curates all the tracks.

Personal life

In the early 1980s, Le Bon was engaged to his then longtime girlfriend, model-turned-actress

Claire Stansfield Claire Stansfield is a British-Canadian actress, director, fashion designer and former model who is best known for her recurring role as Alti in several episodes of the TV series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' and guest-starring roles on ''Cybill'' ...

. After breaking up with her, he wooed

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

Yasmin Parvaneh. Seeing her face in a magazine, he phoned her

modelling agency A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and/or the head agency. The top agencies work with bi ...

to track her down and they married on 27 December 1985. Yasmin suffered two

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

s, but the couple went on to have three daughters, including

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

. He became a grandfather in 2018. During Duran Duran's hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his

maxi yacht A maxi yacht usually refers to a racing yacht of at least in length. Origin The term ''maxi'' originated with the International Offshore Rule (IOR) rating system, which in the 1970s and 1980s measured offshore racing yachts and applied a single ...

, ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'', lost its keel and capsized during the

Fastnet Race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after the Fastnet ...

, just off Falmouth along the southern coast of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped under the boat, inside the hull, for forty minutes. All of them were rescued by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, using a

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) helicopter from

771 Naval Air Squadron 771 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm was formed on 24 May 1939 at Lee-on-Solent as a Fleet Requirements Unit with 14 Fairey Swordfish TSR biplanes. The Squadron carried out various exercises with ships and provided towed targets for naval a ...

based near

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...

. The rescue earned the Rescue Diver, POACMN L Slater, a

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

. Despite the accident, Le Bon and ''Drum'' went on to participate in the 1985–1986

, coming in third overall in elapsed time. Le Bon and his partners eventually sold ''Drum''; the events surrounding ''Drum'' and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled ''Drum – The Journey of a Lifetime'' and the book ''One Watch at a Time'' written by ''Drums skipper, Skip Novak. Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring break in August 2005, Le Bon again raced ''Drum'' in the

, borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the late Scottish multi car garage owner Sir

Arnold Clark Sir John Arnold Clark (27 November 1927 – 10 April 2017) was a Scottish billionaire businessman. Clark opened a showroom in Glasgow in 1954 and found some success selling cars. He expanded his business and Arnold Clark Automobiles beca ...

) to participate, and raising funds for the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

(RNLI) charity. Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing ''Drum'' (and the other competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan. He appears as the narrator in a documentary film project called ''The Weekend Sailor'' which is about a

Swan 65 The Swan 65 is a large Fibre glass fin+keeled masthead ketch- or sloop-rigged sailing yacht design, manufactured by Nautor's Swan. It was introduced as the new flagship of Nautor in 1973. At the time of its launch it was the largest GRP constr ...

sailing yacht called Sayula II that won the first Whitbread Round the World sailing race in 1973–74. In 2009 Le Bon (who describes himself as a "concerned

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

") contributed an essay to the book ''The Atheist's Guide to Christmas'', edited by

Ariane Sherine Ariane Sherine (born 3 July 1980) is a British musical stand-up comedian, comedy writer, author, novelist and journalist. She created the Atheist Bus Campaign, which ran in 13 countries during January 2009. Career Sherine has written more t ...

. In 2014, he became a distinguished supporter of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...

. Le Bon injured his

vocal cords In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech ...

and was unable to finish his 2011 summer tour. He remarked, "I am trying to be philosophical."

Discography

with Duran Duran * ''

'' (1981) * ''

'' (1982) * ''

'' (1983) * '' Notorious'' (1986) * '' Big Thing'' (1988) * ''

'' (1990) * ''

'' (1993) * ''

'' (1995) * ''

'' (1997) * ''

'' (2000) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

Reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

'' (2006) (unreleased) * ''

Red Carpet Massacre ''Red Carpet Massacre'' is the twelfth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 13 November 2007 by Epic Records. Most of the music on the final incarnation of the album was completed in late 2006 following the departure ...

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2015) * '' Future Past'' (2021) with Arcadia * ''

'' (1985)

References

External links

SYN Entertainment official website

Duran Duran official website
* * *
WHOOOSH!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Bon, Simon 1958 births 20th-century English male singers 20th-century English singers 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English singers Alumni of the University of Birmingham Duran Duran members English people of French descent English agnostics English new wave musicians English pop singers English male singer-songwriters English male sailors (sport) British synth-pop new wave musicians Ivor Novello Award winners Living people People from Bushey People from Pinner English tenors Musicians from Hertfordshire Male new wave singers Volvo Ocean Race sailors