A week on from Olivia Rodrigo inviting The Cure’s Robert Smith to join her onstage during her headline set at the Glastonbury Festival, another young star - Sabrina Carpenter - has paid tribute to an iconic British band, this time at London’s Hyde Park.
After encouraging the audience to howl during the second of her two BST Hyde Park shows this weekend on Sunday 6 July, Carpenter said: “I also thought it might be fun if I brought out some friends of mine from the UK. I’m gonna need you guys to put that howling to good use. Could everybody please give it up and make so much noise for the legendary Duran Duran!”
Well, we weren’t expecting that, but sure enough, out stepped the band’s lead singer, Simon Le Bon, and bassist John Taylor, who joined Carpenter for a performance of their 1982 hit, Hungry Like The Wolf.
Le Bon was in good voice, harmonising nicely with Carpenter, and Taylor’s bass playing as nimble as ever. There was no sign of keyboard player Nick Rhodes or drummer Roger Taylor, but you can’t have everything, right?
Carpenter’s set was supported by main stage performances from Olivia Dean and Clairo at BST Hyde Park, both of which were preceded by a biblical thunderstorm earlier in the day. Next up at the iconic open-air venue are Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts (11 July), Stevie Wonder (12 July) and Jeff Lynne’s ELO (13 July).
