The Cult are an English hard rock band from Bradford. Formed in April 1983, the group were originally known as Death Cult, but shortened their name to simply The Cult. They featured vocalist Ian Astbury, guitarist Billy Duffy, bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Ray "Mondo" Taylor-Smith. The group's current lineup includes Astbury and Duffy, alongside drummer John Tempesta (since 2006), bassist Charlie Jones (since 2020), and keyboardist Mike Mangan (since 2022).
Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy formed Death Cult in April 1983, enlisting Ritual members Jamie Stewart and Ray Mondo as a rhythm section to complete the band's initial lineup. [1] After the release of a self-titled debut EP, the group fired Mondo in September and replaced him with Nigel Preston of Sex Gang Children (Mondo took Preston's place in Sex Gang Children). [2] Death Cult issued one more release under their original name, "Gods Zoo", before renaming themselves the Cult in January 1984. [3] The band released their full-length debut Dreamtime in September, early copies of which were packaged with Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum . [4] Another single, "Ressurection Joe", followed at the end of the year. [5] Shortly after the release of "She Sells Sanctuary" in May 1985, Preston was fired from the Cult as he had "become too unreliable". [6]
Mark Brzezicki of Big Country, who had initially substituted for Preston at the filming of the "She Sells Sanctuary" music video after he hadn't shown up, recorded drums for the rest of the 1985 album Love as a session member. [7] During the sessions, Les Warner took over as the band's new permanent drummer. [8] The new lineup recorded a planned third album Peace in late 1986, however the result was scrapped and remained unreleased until it was featured on the 2000 box set Rare Cult . [9] Working with new producer Rick Rubin, the group issued Electric in April 1987. [10] For the album's tour, Stephen "Kid Chaos" Harris from Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction joined on bass and Stewart switched to guitar. [11] Harris has claimed that he actually contributed to the recording of Electric, having joined the band in January 1987. [12]
After the conclusion of the Electric touring cycle, Harris and Warner were both fired at the beginning of 1988. [13] The group returned to the studio to record several demos, first with Badlands drummer Eric Singer and later with Chris Taylor from producer Bob Rock's group Rock and Hyde, before tracking the final version of Sonic Temple with Mickey Curry of Bryan Adams's band. [14] For the subsequent promotional tour, Matt Sorum was hired on drums after auditioning in addition to Taylor. [15] After the tour ended in April 1990, founding bassist Stewart left the Cult "to concentrate on producing, composing, and spending time with his wife". [16] He was followed in July by Sorum, who was hired to replace Steve Adler in Guns N' Roses. [17] After a brief hiatus, Astbury and Duffy reconvened to record a collection of new demos with bassist Todd Hoffman and drummer James Kottak in early 1991. [18] As with Sonic Temple in 1989, drums on the final version of Ceremony were performed by Mickey Curry, while Keith Richards's bandmate Charley Drayton was brought in to contribute bass. [13]
The Cult returned to touring in October 1991, with Astbury and Duffy joined by bassist Kinley Wolfe and drummer Michael Lee. [19] The tour spawned a live album, Live Cult , which was released in 1993. [20] At the beginning of that year, Wolfe and Lee were replaced by Craig Adams (formerly of the Mission) and Scott Garrett (formerly of Dag Nasty), respectively. [21] Mike Dimkich, formerly of Channel 3, joined the band as touring rhythm guitarist at the same time, before he was replaced by James Stevenson the following year. [22] In between the two tours, the band's core lineup recorded their only album with Adams and Garrett, The Cult , which was released in October 1994. [23] In March 1995, the band cancelled a string of tour dates and broke up, which was attributed primarily to tensions between Astbury and Duffy. [24]
After four years away, Astbury and Duffy reformed the Cult in April 1999 with returning drummer Matt Sorum and new bassist Martyn LeNoble. [25] Mike Dimkich also returned as touring rhythm guitarist. [26] LeNoble left after tour dates ending in the summer of 2000, with Chris Wyse taking his place for the bulk of the recording for 2001's Beyond Good and Evil . [27] [28] In preparation for the album's promotional tour, LeNoble was reported in March 2001 to be returning, however by May this had changed to be Billy Morrison in a touring capacity. [29] In February 2002, it was reported that the band had been dropped by their label Atlantic Records and all but disbanded, which according to Sorum was again due to tensions between Astbury and Duffy. [30] After a short tour with returning members Craig Adams and Scott Garrett, the band officially went on hiatus in October. [31]
Following several months of rumours, a second Cult reunion was announced in January 2006, with bassist Chris Wyse and drummer John Tempesta (formerly of Exodus, Testament and more) added to the band's lineup the next month. [32] This lineup remained stable for several years, releasing Born into This in 2007, two singles in 2010, and Choice of Weapon in 2012. [13] In July 2013, touring guitarist Dimkich left to join Bad Religion, with James Stevenson taking his place again. [22] By early 2015, both Stevenson and Wyse had left, with Chris Chaney contributing the majority of bass recordings on the group's 2016 album Hidden City . [33] After the album was finished, the band returned to touring with new members Grant Fitzpatrick on bass and Damon Fox on keyboards and rhythm guitar. [34]
The band released their eleventh studio album Under The Midnight Sun in 2022 which featured new bassist Charlie Jones [35] and session drummer Ian Matthews of Kasabian, [36] [37] the album was also the last (to date) studio appearance of Damon Fox who was replaced by Mike Mangan later in the year. [38]
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ian Astbury |
|
| all Cult releases | |
Billy Duffy |
| |||
John Tempesta | 2006–present [32] (hiatus 2020–2022) |
| all Cult releases from Born into This (2007) [43] onwards except Under The Midnight Sun (2022) [36] | |
Charlie Jones | 2020–present [36] [35] |
| Under The Midnight Sun (2022) [36] | |
Mike Mangan | 2022–present [38] |
| none |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jamie Stewart | 1983–1990 [1] [16] |
|
| |
Ray Mondo (Raymond Taylor-Smith) | 1983 [1] [2] | drums | Death Cult (1983) [46] | |
Nigel Preston | 1983–1985 (died 1992) [2] [6] |
| [49] [41] [47] | |
Les Warner | 1985–1988 [8] [13] | drums |
| |
Kid Chaos (Stephen Harris) | 1987–1988 [11] [13] |
| none | |
Matt Sorum |
|
|
| |
Kinley "Barney" Wolfe | 1991–1993 [19] |
| Live Cult (1993) [53] | |
Michael Lee | 1991–1993 (died 2008) [19] | drums | ||
Scott Garrett |
| The Cult (1994) [39] | ||
Craig Adams |
| |||
Martyn LeNoble |
| bass | Beyond Good and Evil (2001) – four tracks [51] | |
Chris Wyse |
|
|
| |
Grant Fitzpatrick | 2015–2020 [34] | none | ||
Damon Fox | 2015–2022 [34] [38] |
| Under The Midnight Sun (2022) [36] |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
John Webster | 1988–1990 | keyboards | Webster performed on 1989's Sonic Temple and the subsequent promotional touring cycle through 1990. [55] | |
John Sinclair | 1991–1993 | Sinclair joined the Cult's touring lineup following the release of Ceremony, featuring on 1993's Live Cult. [56] | ||
Mike Dimkich |
| rhythm guitar | Dimkich first joined the Cult's touring lineup for the band's 1993 touring cycle. [22] He was replaced by James Stevenson the following year, but returned when the group reformed in 1999 and remained until 2013. [22] During his time with the band Dimkich appeared on the live album Music Without Fear: Live from the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles (2002) [52] | |
James Stevenson |
|
| Stevenson replaced Dimkich for the 1994 tour in promotion of The Cult, and again when he left in 2013. [22] | |
Billy Morrison | 2001–2002 |
| After the recording of Beyond Good and Evil, Morrison joined the Cult as the band's touring bassist. [29] Morrison appeared on the live album Music Without Fear: Live from the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles (2002) [52] |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details/release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mich Ebeling | 1984 | backing vocals | Dreamtime (1984) [44] | |
Mae McKenna | 1985 | Love (1985) [41] | ||
Lorenza Johnson | ||||
Jackie Challenor | ||||
Mark Brzezicki | drums |
| ||
Eric Singer | 1988 |
| ||
Chris Taylor | ||||
Iggy Pop | backing vocals | Sonic Temple (1989) [58] | ||
Bob Buckley | string arrangement | |||
Mickey Curry |
| drums | ||
James Kottak | 1991 | Ceremony (1991) demos [18] | ||
Todd Hoffman | bass | |||
Charley Drayton | Ceremony (1991) [59] | |||
Tommy Funderburk | backing vocals | |||
Donny Gerrard | ||||
Mona Lisa | ||||
Yvonne St. James | ||||
Suzie Katayama | cello | |||
Benmont Tench |
| |||
Scott Thurston |
| |||
Richie Zito |
| |||
Alex Acuña | percussion | |||
Jim McGiueray | 1993–1994 | The Cult (1994) [39] | ||
Scott Humphrey |
| |||
Bob Rock |
|
|
| |
Youth | 2007 | additional bass tracks | Born into This (2007) [43] | |
David Nock | additional drum tracks | |||
Jamie Edwards | 2011–2012 |
| Choice of Weapon (2012) [42] | |
Chris Goss |
| |||
A.J. Celi | backing vocals | |||
Chris Chaney | 2014–2015 | bass | Hidden City (2015) [40] | |
Jamie Muhoberac |
| |||
Dan Chase | additional drums | |||
Ian Matthews [37] | 2020–2022 |
| Under the Midnight Sun (2022) [36] | |
Tom Dalgety |
|
Period | Members | Releases |
---|---|---|
April – September 1983 (as Death Cult) |
|
|
September 1983 – June 1985 (as Death Cult until January 1984) |
|
|
June – July 1985 |
|
|
July 1985 – January 1987 |
| |
January 1987 – early 1988 |
| none – Electric tour dates only |
Spring – summer 1988 |
|
|
Summer – fall 1988 |
|
|
Fall – late 1988 |
|
|
Spring 1989 – April 1990 |
|
|
April – July 1990 |
| none – band on hiatus |
July 1990 – January 1991 |
| |
January – spring 1991 |
|
|
Spring – summer 1991 |
| |
October 1991 – January 1993 |
| |
January – June 1993 |
| none – Hair of the Underdog tour dates only |
Summer 1993 – September 1994 |
| |
September 1994 – March 1995 |
| none – Beauty Is on the Streets tour dates only |
Band inactive March 1995 – April 1999 | ||
April 1999 – fall 2000 |
|
|
Fall – late 2000 |
|
|
March – May 2001 |
| none – Beyond Good and Evil tour rehearsals only |
May 2001 – February 2002 |
|
|
August – October 2002 |
| none – tour dates only |
Band inactive October 2002 – February 2006 | ||
February 2006 – March 2011 |
|
|
March 2011 – July 2013 |
|
|
July 2013 – early 2015 |
| none – tour dates only |
Early – fall 2015 |
|
|
Fall 2015 – August 2022 |
| none – tour dates only |
August 2020 – April 2022 [38] |
|
|
April 2022 [38] – present |
| none to date |
The Cult are an English rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk and gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine". Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two main songwriters.
Southern Death Cult were a British post-punk/gothic rock band that formed in Bradford during the early 1980s. They are now primarily known for having given their lead vocalist and parts of the name to the multi-platinum hard rock band the Cult. Despite the similarities in the names, "Southern Death Cult" were distinct from "Death Cult"/"the Cult".
Ian Robert Astbury is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist, frontman and a founding member of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury fronted the short-lived band Holy Barbarians in 1996, and later from 2002 to 2007 served as the lead singer of Riders on the Storm, a Doors tribute band that also featured original Doors members Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger. Astbury replaced Rob Tyner during an MC5 reunion in 2003, and has contributed guest vocals on several recordings by other artists.
Nazareth are a Scottish hard rock band formed in Dunfermline in 1968 that had many hit singles and albums in Canada, the United Kingdom, and a number of other European countries beginning in the early 1970s. The breadth of their popularity expanded internationally, including in the United States, with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog, which featured their hits "Hair of the Dog" and a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts". They have continued to record and tour internationally for more than 50 years.
Dreamtime is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Cult. Released on 31 August 1984 by Beggars Banquet Records, it peaked at No. 21 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified silver by the BPI after having sold 60,000 copies. The first single, "Spiritwalker", peaked at No. 1 on the UK Independent Singles Chart. Dreamtime has subsequently been reissued in roughly 30 countries worldwide.
Ceremony is the fifth studio album by British rock band The Cult, first released on 23 September 1991. The most popular songs on the album are “Wild Hearted Son” and “Heart of Soul”.
Sonic Temple is the fourth studio album by British rock band The Cult, released on 10 April 1989. The album features some of the band's most popular songs, including "Fire Woman" and "Edie ". Sonic Temple was the last album recorded with longtime bassist Jamie Stewart, who left in 1990, and the first to feature session drummer Mickey Curry.
Love is the second studio album by the English rock band The Cult, released on 18 October 1985 by Beggars Banquet Records. The album was the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching number four in the UK and staying on the chart for 22 weeks. It produced three Top 40 singles in the UK, "She Sells Sanctuary", "Rain", and "Revolution". It has been released in nearly 30 countries and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies. Love was recorded at Jacob's Studios in Farnham, Surrey, in July and August 1985.
Beyond Good and Evil is the seventh studio album by English rock band The Cult. Released in 2001, it marked their first new recording in six and a half years. The record debuted at No. 37 on the charts in the United States, No. 22 in Canada, No. 25 in Spain.
Death Cult is the debut four-track EP by the post punk/gothic rock band Death Cult. Released in July 1983 on the Situation Two label, the EP reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart. The EP is often erroneously referred to as Brothers Grimm.
James Alec Stewart is a retired British musician who was the bassist of the post-punk/hard rock band The Cult. He recorded on The Cult's first four albums, Dreamtime, Love, Electric and Sonic Temple.
"So Alive" is a song by British alternative rock band Love and Rockets, released in 1989 as the second single from their self-titled fourth album. The song reached No. 1 in Canada and charted within the top 30 in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In the US, it topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for five weeks and was ranked No. 1 on that listing's year-end chart for 1989. The song's music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh and produced by Pamela James.
The Cult is the sixth studio album from English rock band The Cult. It was released in October 1994 on Beggars Banquet Records and it is also the band's last album on Sire Records in the US. It is also commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" record, due to the image of a Manx Loaghtan black sheep on the front cover. The record also features one of the very rare times when Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have shared songwriting credit with anyone: bassist Craig Adams is credited as co-author of "Universal You".
"She Sells Sanctuary" is a song by British rock band the Cult. It is from their second studio album, Love (1985), and was released as a single on 13 May 1985, peaking at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart in July of the same year. In March 2023, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the song a platinum certification for sales and streams of over 600,000. In January 1993, the song was re-released as "Sanctuary MCMXCIII" and experienced chart success once more, matching its original peak on the UK Singles Chart and entering the top 10 in New Zealand.
Born into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on October 2, 2007 in the US, Canada, South Africa, and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on 1 October, and in Finland on the 3rd.
"One to Another" is a song by British alternative rock band the Charlatans. It was the first single from their fifth album, Tellin' Stories (1997), and their first single following the death of the band's keyboardist, Rob Collins. The single remains their highest-charting song in the UK, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart. "One to Another" features drum loops provided by Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers. The song serves as the theme song to the UK channel E4 show My Mad Fat Diary.
"Ressurection Joe" is a single by the English rock band The Cult, it was released on 14 December 1984 and wasn't found on any previous studio album by the group.
Rare Cult is a limited edition, six-CD box set from British rock band the Cult, released in November 2000. The chronologically-organized set contains 90 tracks of studio B-sides, radio sessions, 12-inch mixes, alternate mixes, demos and the complete then-unreleased Peace album. The set is packaged in a matte black box with gold lettering, containing three 2-disc gatefold digipaks and an extensive 80-page booklet of liner notes and photos.
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