List of the Cult band members

The Cult performing live in 2018.

The Cult are an English hard rock band from Bradford. Formed in April 1983, the group were originally known as Death Cult and 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 Grant Fitzpatrick and keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Damon Fox (both since 2015).

History[]

1983–1988[]

Ian Astbury (left) and Billy Duffy (right) formed Death Cult in April 1983 and are constant members.

Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy formed Death Cult in April 1983, enlisting Ritual rhythm section Jamie Stewart and Ray Mondo 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]

1988–1995[]

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]

Since 1999[]

Matt Sorum left the Cult in 1990 to join Guns N' Roses, but later rejoined for the band's 1999–2002 tenure.

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]

Members[]

Current[]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Ian Astbury	1983–1995 1999–2002 2006–present	lead vocals occasional percussion/rhythm guitar	all Cult releases
	Billy Duffy		lead and rhythm guitars backing vocals
	John Tempesta	2006–present	drums percussion	all Cult releases from Born into This (2007) onwards
	Grant Fitzpatrick	2015–present	bass backing vocals	none to date
	Damon Fox		keyboards rhythm guitar backing vocals

Former[]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Jamie Stewart	1983–1990	bass rhythm guitar (1987) keyboards backing vocals	all Cult releases from Death Cult (1983) to Sonic Temple (1989) Ghost Dance (1996) Peace (2000) Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions (2002) – all except The Red Zone Demos 1991 and Ceremony Session Mixes 1991
	Ray Mondo (Raymond Taylor-Smith)	1983	drums	Death Cult (1983)
	Nigel Preston	1983–1985 (died 1992)	drums percussion	all Cult releases from "Gods Zoo" (1983) to Love (1985) – one track only on Love Ghost Dance (1996)
	Les Warner	1985–1988	drums	Electric (1987) Peace (2000) Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions (2002) – The E.Zee Sessions June 1986 and The Hot Nights Demos 1986
	Kid Chaos (Stephen Harris)	1987–1988	bass backing vocals	none
	Matt Sorum	1989–1990 1999–2002	drums percussion backing vocals	Beyond Good and Evil (2001) Music Without Fear: Live from the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles (2002) Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions (2002) – The Jam Demos 1989
	Kinley "Barney" Wolfe	1991–1993	bass backing vocals	Live Cult (1993)
	Michael Lee	1991–1993 (died 2008)	drums
	Craig Adams	1993–1995 2002	bass backing vocals	The Cult (1994)
	Scott Garrett		drums
	Martyn LeNoble	1999–2000 2001	bass	Beyond Good and Evil (2001) – four tracks
	Chris Wyse	2000 (session) 2006–2015	bass backing vocals	Beyond Good and Evil (2001) all Cult releases from Born into This (2007) to Weapon of Choice (2012)

Backup[]

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Details
	Mark Brzezicki	1985 (session)	drums	Brzezicki initially stood in for Nigel Preston for the filming of the "She Sells Sanctuary" music video, and later recorded the remainder of Love when Preston was fired due to his continued unreliability.[7]
	Eric Singer	1988 (session)		After Les Warner was fired in early 1988, Singer and Taylor recorded demos for the band's fourth studio album Sonic Temple. These were later issued as part of Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions in 2002.[14]
	Chris Taylor
	John Webster	1988–1990 (session/touring)	keyboards	Webster performed on 1989's Sonic Temple and the subsequent promotional touring cycle through 1990.[35]
	Mickey Curry	1988 1991 (both session)	drums	Curry recorded drums for the final version of Sonic Temple, following demo sessions with Singer and Taylor.[14] He later returned to record drums for the 1991 album Ceremony, following the departure of Matt Sorum.[13]
	Todd Hoffman	1991 (session)	bass	Following the departures of Jamie Stewart and Matt Sorum in April and July 1990, respectively, the Cult went on a short hiatus before reconvening at the end of the year with Hoffman and Kottak to record new demos.[18]
	James Kottak		drums
	Charley Drayton	1991 (session)	bass	After the band recorded demos for Ceremony with Hoffman, Drayton took over for the final sessions.[13]
	John Sinclair	1991–1993 (touring)	keyboards	Sinclair joined the Cult's touring lineup following the release of Ceremony, featuring on 1993's Live Cult.[36]
	Mike Dimkich	1993 1999–2013 (both touring)	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]
	James Stevenson	1994–1995 2013–2015 (both touring)		Stevenson replaced Dimkich for the 1994 tour in promotion of The Cult, and again when he left in 2013.[22]
	Billy Morrison	2001–2002	bass backing vocals	After the recording of Beyond Good and Evil, Morrison joined the Cult as the band's touring bassist.[29]

Timeline[]

Lineups[]

References[]

External links[]

• The Cult official website