DURAN DURAN, MANAGER TO BE HONORED

Duran Duran and longtime manager Wendy Laister will receive the Artist & Management Partnership gong at the Artist & Manager Awards in London on 11/23.

The honor celebrates two decades of success. Laister and her company, Magus Entertainment, started managing the British band in 2002. After being reunited with original members Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor for 2004’s Astronaut, she secured Duran Duran a two-album deal with Epic Records before bringing them back to their original Warner Records home for 2015’s Paper Gods. That’s the band's Nick Rhodes giving Laister a big hug in the photo.

Since then, Duran Duran has enjoyed three Top 5 albums in the U.K. and two that hit the Top 20 in the U.S. Their latest, Future Past, was released via BMG and charted at #3 in the U.K. In 2022, Duran Duran were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. New music is expected this year.

Said Anabella Coldrick, chief exec of the Music Managers Forum, which bestows the Artist & Manager Awards, “Wendy is one of the U.K.’s most legendary and successful managers,” with an “astonishing track record" stretching back to her stint as Aerosmith’s manager in the '90s. During that time, Laister guided the band to three multiplatinum #1 albums, their first U.S. #1 single and two record-breaking world tours.

“Her partnership with Duran Duran epitomizes the spirit of our event, and we are delighted that they will join us to celebrate more than two decades of innovation, inspiration and global success,” Coldrick said.

The Artist & Manager Awards, sponsored by beatBread, will take place at Bloomsbury Big Top.