The Cult
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.
This article is about the band. For other uses, see The Cult (disambiguation).
The Cult
Death Cult (1983–1984, 2023)
Bradford, England
- Hard rock
- gothic rock
- post-punk (early)
- 1983–1995
- 1999–2002
- 2006–present
- Jamie Stewart
- Ray Mondo
- Nigel Preston
- Mark Brzezicki
- Les Warner
- Kid Chaos
- Eric Singer
- Mickey Curry
- Matt Sorum
- James Kottak
- Michael Lee
- Scott Garrett
- Todd Hoffman
- Charley Drayton
- Kinley Wolfe
- Craig Adams
- Martyn LeNoble
- Billy Morrison
- Chris Wyse
- Jimmy Ashhurst
- Mike Dimkich
- James Stevenson
- Damon Fox
- Grant Fitzpatrick
- Chris Chaney
- Jamie Muhoberac
- Ian Matthews
The Cult's debut studio album Dreamtime was released in 1984 to moderate success, with its lead single "Spiritwalker" reaching No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart. Their second studio album, Love (1985), was also successful, charting at No. 4 in the UK and including singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". The band's third studio album, Electric (1987), launched them to new heights of success, also peaking at No. 4 in the UK and charting highly in other territories, and spawned the hit singles "Love Removal Machine", "Lil' Devil" and "Wild Flower". On that album, the Cult supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. After moving to Los Angeles, where the band has been based for the remainder of their career,[1][2][3] the Cult continued the musical experimentation of Electric with its follow-up studio album Sonic Temple (1989), which marked their first collaboration with Bob Rock, who would produce several of the band's subsequent studio albums. Sonic Temple was their most successful studio album to that point, entering the Top 10 on the UK and US charts, and included one of the band's most popular songs "Fire Woman".
By the time of their fifth studio album Ceremony (1991), tensions and creative differences began to surface between the band members. This resulted in the recording sessions for Ceremony being held without a stable line-up, leaving Astbury and Duffy as the only two official members, and featuring support from session musicians on bass guitar and drums. The ongoing tension had carried over within the next few years, during which one more studio album, The Cult (1994), was recorded.[4] After their first breakup in 1995, the Cult reformed in 1999 and released their seventh studio album Beyond Good and Evil two years later. The commercial failure of the album and resurfaced tensions led to the band's second dissolution in 2002. The Cult reunited once again in 2006, and have since released four more studio albums: Born into This (2007), Choice of Weapon (2012), Hidden City (2016) and Under the Midnight Sun (2022).
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#0__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#0__subtitleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
Influences[edit]
Duffy and Astbury cited among their influences a lot of different bands "from the Doors to Led Zeppelin. We literally went from the front of our record collections to the back. And then along the way we were drawn in by the likes of Public Image Ltd, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees. You might not hear it in the music but it's there."[75] They also cited Bauhaus among many other post-punk influences.[76] Duffy also praised Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers for a major performance he attended in 1977 and Siouxsie and the Banshees who "always had great guitar players with killer riffs."[77] Duffy also hailed AC/DC for "the power of a good three chord riff", Pete Townshend of the Who "in terms of commitment to stage performing" and Brian May of Queen for using "'echoplex' tape delays to orchestrate his own solo".[78]
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#3__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#3__descriptionDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
Musical style[edit]
AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that The Cult "formed as a goth band" and later became "a stadium-filling hard rock act led by the shamanistic Ian Astbury."[4] In 1985, Astbury said, "Our music is just melodies and guitars. We're like Big Country and U2, only better!"[79]
Current members
Studio albums
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#2__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#2__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#4__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#4__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__titleDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__subtextDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--0DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--1DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$
$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#1__answer--2DEEZ_NUTS$_$_$