Death Cult

The Cult
Founding members of the Cult, Ian Astbury (vocalist) and Billy Duffy (guitarist), performing in 2016
Background information
Origin	Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Genres	Hard rock gothic rock post-punk heavy metal
Years active	1983 (1983)–1995 1999–2002 2006–present
Labels	Situation Two Beggars Banquet Atlantic Roadrunner Sire Warner Bros. Aderra Cooking Vinyl Dine Alone Records
Associated acts	Southern Death Cult Theatre of Hate Death Cult Guns N' Roses
Website	thecult.us
Members	Ian Astbury Billy Duffy John Tempesta Grant Fitzpatrick Damon Fox

The Cult are a British rock band formed 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 singer Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult. They gained a dedicated following in the UK in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine" and "Fire Woman". According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the band fuse a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of The Doors [and] the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". Since the initial formation of Southern Death Cult in Bradford in 1981, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's two songwriters.

After moving to London, the band released their second album Love in 1985, which charted at No. 4 in the UK and included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". On their third album, Electric (1987), the band supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. Their fourth album, Sonic Temple (1989), proceeded in a similar vein, and these two albums enabled them to break into the North American market.