Duran Duran [ tickets ] founding member Andy Taylor has left the band again, forcing the resurgent Brit-poppers to enlist a replacement guitarist on the eve of a tour.

The band is set to play the first show of a brief US trek Thursday (10/26) in Chicago, and is scheduled to hit eight cities over the next two weeks.

Taylor, who has not yet released a statement regarding his departure, will be replaced on the band's upcoming trek by session guitarist Dom Brown, who has filled in for Taylor for brief stretches in the past.

The four remaining members of the group--Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor (the Taylors are unrelated)-- released a statement to the press citing an "unworkable gulf" in the relationship between the guitarist and the band.

"As of last weekend ... the four of us have dissolved our partnership and will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together," the remaining band members said in a posting on Duran Duran's website. "Although obviously disappointed and saddened about this, we are excited about the next chapter of the Duran Duran story and look forward to seeing you all soon."

Taylor, who played guitar on the band's first three studio albums in the '80s, originally left Duran Duran after the release of 1986's "Notorious." He rejoined the group in 2001, following a stint in the '80s supergroup Power Station, which charted pop hits "Some Like it Hot" and "Get It On" in the latter stages of that decade.

Duran Duran is planning on entering the studio soon to record the follow-up to its 2004 comeback album, "Astronaut." That set has sold more than two million copies worldwide.