September 2015: Duran Duran, PAPER GODS

The time had come: '80s New Wave legends Duran Duran were ready to relive the glory days in September 2015 with the release of the band's 14th studio effort, Paper Gods. OK cool, so why are we talking about it today? That part's easy: Nick Rhodes, the band's founding keyboardist, was just the sixth musician to be honored with the annual Lifetime Achievement Award from Roland Corporation, famous for making some of the most popular and influential synthesizers of all-time.

With Paper Gods, Rhodes and company blasted right back into orbit with the group re-teaming with producer Nile Rodgers, along with Mark Ronson and Mr. Hudson taking turns in the production chair. The album hearkened back to Duran Duran's past in more ways that one: the album cover featured such details as the lips from the Rio album cover, the Eiffel Tower (as featured in the video for "A View to a Kill"), cherry ice cream from the lyrics of "Rio," and more. Fans who purchased a physical copy of Paper Gods received a sticker sheet of the images.

Kicking off the album campaign with Nile Rodgers-produced lead single "Pressure Off" featuring Janelle Monae, Paper Gods rocketed up the charts on both sides of the pond, peaking at #10 on the Billboard 200, and as high as #5 on the UK chart.

As for that Lifetime Achievement Award from Roland, Nick Rhodes was absolutely delighted:

"Wow, a huge thank you to everyone at Roland for this glorious award," the keyboardist said in a press statement. "I am honored to receive it, particularly as Roland has been such a big part of my life since the beginning of my career. I started out in 1980 with a Roland System-100, then I graduated to a Jupiter-4, and shortly after to a Jupiter-8. You often hear guitarists talking about the ultimate Les Paul or the 1959 Stratocaster that they just can't do without. Well, for me, this has always been the Jupiter-8," he added. "These were the instruments that really formed the sound palette that I developed my creativity from. I think, for all artists, these tools that we make music with are of the most importance, and I am very grateful to the developers at Roland for staying in touch with the way that music evolves."