(left to right) Mike Dimkich, John Tempesta, Chris Wyse, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy

(left to right) Damon Fox, Grant Fitzpatrick, Ian Astbury, John Tempesta and Billy Duffy

Two lineups of The Cult performing 2012 and 2018

The Cult are an English hard rock band from Bradford. Formed in April 1983, the group were originally known as SOUTHERN Death Cult, then Death Cult and finally, 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).

History

1983–1988

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]

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

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]

Members

Current

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Ian Astbury	1983–1995 1999–2002 2006–present [1] [24] [25] [30] [32]	lead vocals percussion additional guitars (1993–1994, 2014–2015) songwriting [39] [40]	all Cult releases
	Billy Duffy		lead and rhythm guitars backing vocals (1983–1995, 2011–2012) songwriting [41] [42]
	John Tempesta	2006–present [32] (hiatus 2020–2022)	drums percussion songwriting	all Cult releases from Born into This (2007) [43] onwards except Under The Midnight Sun (2022) [36]
	Charlie Jones	2020–present [36] [35]	bass backing vocals	Under The Midnight Sun (2022) [36]
	Mike Mangan	2022–present [38]	keyboards backing vocals	none

Former

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Jamie Stewart	1983–1990 [1] [16]	bass rhythm guitar (1987-1988) keyboards (1985, 1988) backing vocals [44] [45] [11]	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 [46] [45] [47] [48] [18]
	Ray Mondo (Raymond Taylor-Smith)	1983 [1] [2]	drums	Death Cult (1983) [46]
	Nigel Preston	1983–1985 (died 1992) [2] [6]	drums percussion [44]	all Cult releases from " Gods Zoo" (1983) to Love (1985) – one track only on Love Ghost Dance (1996) [49] [41] [47]
	Les Warner	1985–1988 [8] [13]	drums	Electric (1987) Peace (2000) Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions (2002) – The E.Zee Sessions June 1986 and The Hot Nights Demos 1986 [50] [48] [18]
	Kid Chaos (Stephen Harris)	1987–1988 [11] [13]	bass backing vocals	none
	Matt Sorum	1989–1990 (touring) 1999–2002 [15] [17] [25]	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 [51] [52] [18]
	Kinley "Barney" Wolfe	1991–1993 [19]	bass backing vocals	Live Cult (1993) [53]
	Michael Lee	1991–1993 (died 2008) [19]	drums
	Scott Garrett	1993–1995 2002 [21] [24] [30]		The Cult (1994) [39]
	Craig Adams		bass backing vocals songwriting
	Martyn LeNoble	1999–2000 2001 [25] [27]	bass	Beyond Good and Evil (2001) – four tracks [51]
	Chris Wyse	2000 (session) 2006–2015 [27] [28] [32]	bass backing vocals	Beyond Good and Evil (2001) – remaining tracks all Cult releases from Born into This (2007) to Weapon of Choice (2012) [51] [43] [54]
	Grant Fitzpatrick	2015–2020 [34]		none
	Damon Fox	2015–2022 [34] [38]	keyboards rhythm guitar (live only) backing vocals	Under The Midnight Sun (2022) [36]

Touring

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	1993 1999–2013	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	1994–1995 2013–2015	rhythm guitar backing vocals [57]	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] Morrison appeared on the live album Music Without Fear: Live from the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles (2002) [52]

Session

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	" She Sells Sanctuary" music video [7] Love (1985) [41]
	Eric Singer	1988		Sonic Temple (1989) demos [14] Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions (2002) [18]
	Chris Taylor
	Iggy Pop		backing vocals	Sonic Temple (1989) [58]
	Bob Buckley		string arrangement
	Mickey Curry	1988 1991	drums	Sonic Temple (1989) [14] Ceremony (1991) [13]
	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		organ piano mellotron
	Scott Thurston		synthesizer piano
	Richie Zito		keyboards harmonium
	Alex Acuña		percussion
	Jim McGiueray	1993–1994		The Cult (1994) [39]
	Scott Humphrey		keyboards programming
	Bob Rock	1993–1994 2014–2015	acoustic guitar rhythm guitar additional guitars bass songwriting	The Cult (1994) [39] Hidden City (2015) [40]
	Youth	2007	additional bass tracks	Born into This (2007) [43]
	David Nock		additional drum tracks
	Jamie Edwards	2011–2012	keyboards strings	Choice of Weapon (2012) [42]
	Chris Goss		guitars backing vocals
	A.J. Celi		backing vocals
	Chris Chaney	2014–2015	bass	Hidden City (2015) [40]
	Jamie Muhoberac		piano keyboards
	Dan Chase		additional drums
	Ian Matthews [37]	2020–2022	drums percussion	Under the Midnight Sun (2022) [36]
	Tom Dalgety		additional guitars keyboards songwriting

Timeline

Lineups

References

External links

• The Cult official website