Images the cure band members
How many original members are still in The Cure?
2 November 2024, 22:08
With The Cure set to release their first album in 16 years, Songs Of A Lost World, Radio X takes a look back at the band's long history... and who's been in the band since the beginning.
The Cure have revealed that their new single Alone will premiere on 26th September. The lead track from the veteran band's long-awaited 14th album, Songs Of A Lost World, it marks the first new material from Robert Smith and co in 16 years.
Over a career lasting over four decades years, The Cure have seen members come and go. Some have even gone and come back. With a back catalogue that spans 1979's debut album Three Imaginary Boys, through the hugely successful LPs Disintegration (1989) and Wish (1992) right up to the new outing Songs Of A Lost World, there have been numerous line-ups of this enduring British band.
Radio X has gone back through the archives and totted up just how many members of The Cure there have been - and discovers that there's only one person that's been in the band since day one. And that is...
Who are the current members of The Cure?
Robert Smith: May 1978 - present
Smith was born in Blackpool on 21st April 1959, but moved south to Horley in Surrey when he was three; he later moved to Crawley in West Sussex at the age of six. Robert joined a group based around his elder brother Richard, the improbably-named Crawley Goat Band, and later formed his own outfit called The Obelisk for a one-off school show in the early 1970s.
By Christmas 1976, a band had formed around the school friends called Malice, which included Smith, drummer Lol Tolhurst, bassist Michael Dempsey, local guitar hero Porl Thompson and a local journalist called Martin Creasy on vocals.
Robert took over vocals in the band - now known as "Easy Cure" - in September 1977 after the then-current singer Peter O'Toole left and it was this configuration that re
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member. The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with their debut album Three Imaginary Boys; this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom.
The Cure are often identified with the gothic rock genre, and are viewed as one of the form's definitive bands. However, the band has routinely rejected classification, particularly as a gothic rock band. Robert Smith said in 2006, "It's so pitiful when 'goth' is still tagged onto the name the Cure", and added, "We're not categorisable. I suppose we were post-punk when we came out, but in total it's impossible. I just play Cure music, whatever that is."
The Cure's primary musical traits have been listed as "dominant, melodic bass lines; whiny, strangulated vocals; and a lyric obsession with existential, almost literary despair."Most Cure songs start with Smith and Gallup writing the drum parts and bass lines. Both record demos at home and then bring them into the studio for fine-tuning. Smith said in 1992, "I think when people talk about the 'Cure sound', they mean songs based on six-string bass, acoustic guitar and my voice, plus the string sound from the Solina." On top of this foundation is laid "towering layers of guitars and synthesisers".www.thecure.com
Browse our unique collection of The Cure photos and prints below
The Cure
English rock band
This article is about the band. For the album, see The Cure (The Cure album). For other uses, see Cure (disambiguation).
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar), Reeves Gabrels (guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Roger O'Donnell (keyboards), and Jason Cooper (drums). Smith has remained the only constant member throughout numerous line-up changes since the band's formation, including stints with guitarist Porl Thompson and drummer Boris Williams, though Gallup was absent for just six years of the band's history.
The Cure's debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979), along with several early singles, placed the band at the forefront of the emerging post-punk and new wave movements that were gaining prominence in the United Kingdom. The band adopted a new and increasingly dark and tormented style beginning with their second album Seventeen Seconds (1980), which, together with Smith's fashion sense, had a strong influence on the emerging genre of gothic rock and the goth subculture that eventually formed around it. Smith drove the band's music toward a more pop-oriented sound with the release of their fourth album Pornography (1982), leading them to worldwide mainstream success. The band reached their commercial peak with the albums Disintegration (1989) and Wish (1992).
The Cure have released 14 studio albums, two EPs, and over 40 singles, selling more than 30 million records worldwide. Their singles compilation Standing on a Beach (1986) sold 4 million copies worldwide by 1989. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Their 14th album Songs of a Lost World (2024) was their first release of all-new material in 16 years and received widespread acclaim, topping the charts in multiple countries (including the UK, their first number one album in
List of the Cure band members
Two lineups of The Cure performing in 2007 (top) and 2013 (bottom).
The Cure are an English alternative rock band from Crawley. Formed in May 1978, the group originally consisted of vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Robert Smith (the only constant member), bassist Michael Dempsey and drummer Lol Tolhurst. The current lineup includes Smith, bassist Simon Gallup (from 1979 to 1982, and since 1984), keyboardist Roger O'Donnell (from 1987 to 1990, 1995 to 2005, and since 2011), guitarist and keyboardist Perry Bamonte (from 1990 to 2005, and since 2022), drummer Jason Cooper (since 1995) and guitarist Reeves Gabrels (since 2012).
History
The Cure formed in May 1978, evolving from the previous outfits Malice and Easy Cure. The band's original incarnation featured vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith, bassist Michael Dempsey and drummer Lol Tolhurst. After the release and promotion of Three Imaginary Boys, Dempsey was replaced by Simon Gallup in November 1979, when keyboardist Matthieu Hartley also joined the band. Hartley performed on Seventeen Seconds, but by August 1980 had left the band. Keyboards on Faith and Pornography were performed by Smith, Gallup and Tolhurst. Following the end of the Pornography touring cycle in June 1982, Gallup left the Cure and the band was placed on a temporary hiatus. Later in the year, Smith and Tolhurst – now the band's keyboardist – returned with the single "Let's Go to Bed".
After several performances with stand-in musicians, the Cure returned in 1983 with new bassist Phil Thornalley and drummer Andy Anderson. Former Malice and Easy Cure guitarist Porl Thompson performed saxophone on the 1984 album The Top, before returning to the group on a full-time basis on guitar and keyboards. During the Top World Tou
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