Here's How Much Simon Le Bon Is Really Worth

When Duran Duran formed in Birmingham, England in 1978, it was just Nick Rhodes and John Taylor. The duo soon added Roger Taylor on drums, and cycled through other musicians, trying to find their sound. But, by the end of 1980, the group found guitarist Andy Taylor from an ad and vocalist Simon Le Bon through a recommendation from Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, who worked at the club where Duran Duran rehearsed and performed. Le Bon went to the audition wearing a white evening jacket and his favorite pink leopard-print jeans, with a notebook full of his poetry under his arm, he told the Independent. Le Bon said it was immediately the perfect fit. "We dressed the same. We had the same kind of outlook. We were positive, happy people," he later told Billboard.

Le Bon would go on to become the famous frontman for Duran Duran, recording 16 studio albums across four decades. Several of his poems would become the lyrics for early Duran Duran hits, including "The Chauffeur." In three successive years, from 1981 to 1983, the band released three highly acclaimed albums: "Duran Duran," "Rio," and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger," which brought them immediate fans from around the world and considerable commercial success, according to Donald C. Miller's Coming of Age in Popular Culture. In the U.S., the band reached #1 for their 1984 single, "The Reflex," and once again a year later for their title track for the James Bond film, "A View to a Kill."

Although Simon Le Bon had worked as a child singer, dancer, and TV commercial actor (via YouTube), by far his greatest earnings came with the early success of Duran Duran. For Le Bon, who has writing credits on most of the band's songs, Duran Duran's popularity has created an estimated net worth of $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which puts him at the same level or wealthier than other members of the band.

Like many musicians in the 1980s, Le Bon spent a considerable sum on partying like, well, a rock star. But his most expensive passion is one that nearly took his life. In 1985, Le Bon was competing in the Fastnet yacht race off Britain's southwest coast. He was asleep aboard his 78-foot maxi-yacht, Drum, when it capsized, trapping him and his crew for 40 minutes before they were rescued, according to the BBC. But that didn't keep Le Bon from returning to sea. He now uses his notoriety and wealth to support oceanic environmental work. "I love the sea and I've been involved with boats and water since I was 11 years old," he told #legend in 2016. "It's very easy to forget what's underneath when you're sitting on top of it and looking at this beautiful shiny thing which reflects the sun and sky. But if you stick your head under, you realise very quickly that there is something wrong."