THE CULT

The British hard rock band The Cult was born in the 1980s when frontman Ian Astbury (born 14 May 1962 in Heswall, Cheshire), after touring Scotland and Canada with his family, returned to the UK and formed a band initially called “Southern Death Cult”.

During his time in Canada, Ian met up with other young Indians on a reserve near Toronto and this is where some of the influences in some of his lyrics came from.

Meanwhile, guitarist Billy Duffy (born 12 May 1961 in Hulme, Manchester) was part of the punk band “The Nosebleeds” alongside Morrissey, who would soon later become successful with the Smiths.

After leaving their previous projects, in 1983, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy met and started the new band “Death Cult” with bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Ray Mondo.

After several EPs and line-up changes, the “Cult” debuted on April 4th 1984 with the single “Spiritwalker” where Astbury stands out with his vocal ability and presence and Billy Duffy reveals himself as a talented guitarist.

The consolidation of the band comes with “Love” (1985).

The Cult’s definitive release came two years later thanks to one of the great producers of the last decades, Rick Rubin, who took the British band towards a more hard rock sound, launching The Cult to international fame.

In 1989, Bob Rock is in charge of producing the next LP, “Sonic Temple (1989)”.  On this new album, Mickey Curry takes over the drums from Les Warner and Iggy Pop provides backing vocals on “New York City”.

After this album, The Cult’s line-up was formed by the two leaders, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, with original member Jamie Stewart and supported live by drummer Matt Sorum, who left the band to join Guns N’ Roses.

In 1991 came the LP “Cremony” on which Stewart was replaced by Charlie Drayton and Tom Petty joined on the keyboard.

In 1993 they released their compilation “Pure Cult” which reached number 1 in the UK.

In 1994 they released “The Cult,” produced once more by Bob Rock.  On this LP you can find a tribute song to several well-known deceased people, such as Kurt Cobain and the actor River Phoenix, “Sacred Life”.  After the release of this album and due to internal tensions the band decided to split up.

After several years of going their separate ways and doing their own thing, in 1999 The Cult returned with “Painted On My Heart”, a song by Dianne Warren that appeared in the film “60 Seconds”.

In 2001 “Beyond Good And Evil” is released, with changes in the line-up, and produced again by Bob Rock.

In 2005 The Cult took off again with live performances, after Atsbury participated in a Doors revival,

Later came other LPs “Born Into This” (2007), “Choice Of Weapon” (2012), “Hidden City” (2016), also in 2016 their song “Love Removal Machine” was included in the soundtrack of the horror movie “It”.

The Cult, the great hard rock band with more than 40 years of history, return to the studio in 2022 to record their latest album “Under the Midnight Sun”, which we can enjoy, among many other of their magnificent songs, in the concert they will give in June 2023 at the BBK BILBAO MUSIC LEGENDS FEST.