The Cure personnel

The Cure are known for having constant member changes. The following is a list of the lineups in The Cure's history, including guest singers, side projects, and session musicians.

Band members

Current members

• Robert Smith – vocals, guitar (1976–present)
• Simon Gallup – bass (1979–1982, 1985–present)
• Roger O'Donnell – keyboards (1987–1990, 1995–2005, 2011–present)
• Jason Cooper – drums (1995–present)

Former members

• Porl Thompson – guitar (1976–1978, 1984–1992, 2005–2010)
• Michael Dempsey – bass (1976–1979)
• Lol Tolhurst – drums (1976–1982, 2011), keyboards (1981–1988, 2011)
• Matthieu Hartley – keyboards (1979–1980)
• Andy Anderson – drums (1983–1984)
• Phil Thornalley – bass (1983–1985)
• Boris Williams – drums (1984–1994, 2001)
• Perry Bamonte – keyboards (1990–1994), guitar (1995–2005)

Note: This page only reflects each member's "official role" within the band. Members would regularly play many different instruments when recording.

Timeline

Whilst The Cure's second guitarist is ostensibly the lead guitarist, they do in fact share lead duties with Smith.

Lineup details

Early bands

Band name & dates	Members & instruments	Notes
Malice Jan '76–Apr '76	Robert Smith – guitar Michael Dempsey – bass Mark Ceccagno – lead guitar "Graham" – drums "Graham's brother" – vocals	The full names of "Graham" and his brother were not documented by the band.
Malice Apr '76–Jan '77	Robert Smith – guitar Michael Dempsey – bass Porl Thompson – lead guitar Lol Tolhurst – drums Martin Creasy – vocals	It was after Creasy left that the band changed their name to "Easy Cure".
Easy Cure Jan '77–Sep '77	Robert Smith – guitar Michael Dempsey – bass Porl Thompson – lead guitar Lol Tolhurst – drums "Gary X" – vocals Peter O'Toole – vocals	The member known only as "Gary X" was the band's vocalist for a brief period in March 1977, before being replaced by O'Toole in April.
Easy Cure Sep '77–Apr '78	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Michael Dempsey – bass Porl Thompson – lead guitar Lol Tolhurst – drums	It was after O'Toole left the band that Smith took up vocal duties for the first time.

Porl Thompson was dropped from the lineup in April, 1978, because his lead guitar style was at odds with Smith's growing preference for minimalist songwriting. This is when the band changed their name to The Cure.

The Cure

Dates & recordings	Members & prominent instruments	Notes
1978–1979 Three Imaginary Boys	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Michael Dempsey – bass Lol Tolhurst – drums	Dempsey provides vocals for the album track "Foxy Lady".
1979–1980 Seventeen Seconds	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Lol Tolhurst – drums Simon Gallup – bass Matthieu Hartley – keyboards
1980–1982 Faith and Pornography	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar, keyboards Lol Tolhurst – drums Simon Gallup – bass
1982–1983 Japanese Whispers	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar, keyboards Lol Tolhurst – keyboards, drum machine Phil Thornalley – bass on "The Lovecats" Andy Anderson – drums on "The Lovecats"
1984 The Top	Robert Smith – vocals, multiple instruments Lol Tolhurst – multiple instruments Andy Anderson – drums, percussion	Porl Thompson guested on The Top, playing saxophone. This instigated his rejoining the band as lead guitarist.
1984 Concert and Live in Japan	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Porl Thompson – guitar, keyboards Lol Tolhurst – keyboards Phil Thornalley – bass Andy Anderson – drums
1984–1987 The Head on the Door, The Cure in Orange and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Porl Thompson – guitar, keyboards Lol Tolhurst – keyboards Simon Gallup – bass Boris Williams – drums
1987–1988	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Porl Thompson – guitar Lol Tolhurst – keyboards Simon Gallup – bass Boris Williams – drums Roger O'Donnell – keyboards	O'Donnell at this point had effectively replaced Tolhurst.
1989 Disintegration and Entreat	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Porl Thompson – guitar Simon Gallup – bass Boris Williams – drums Roger O'Donnell – keyboards	Lol Tolhurst is listed as an official sixth group member on Disintegration, credited with playing "Other instrument". However, it was later revealed he had little part in the writing, recording or performance of the album.
1990 Mixed Up	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Porl Thompson – guitar Simon Gallup – bass Boris Williams – drums
1990–1993 Wish, Paris and Show	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Porl Thompson – guitar Simon Gallup – bass Boris Williams – drums Perry Bamonte – keyboards, guitar
1994 "Purple Haze" and "Burn"	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Simon Gallup – bass Boris Williams – drums Perry Bamonte – keyboards, guitar
1994 "This is a Lie"	Robert Smith – vocals, multiple instruments Perry Bamonte – multiple instruments	According to interviews, this was the lineup when Williams had left the band and Gallup was on a temporary vacation.
1995–2005 Wild Mood Swings, Bloodflowers, Trilogy and The Cure	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Simon Gallup – bass Roger O'Donnell – keyboards Perry Bamonte – guitar Jason Cooper – drums	Boris Williams joined the band in 2001 for a one-off acoustic performance to commemorate the Greatest Hits compilation.
2005 "Love"	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Simon Gallup – bass Jason Cooper – drums	Short period of time following the firing of O'Donnell and Bamonte. The band filmed a few performances for LAUNCH and recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Love" for Amnesty.
2005–2010 Festival 2005 and 4:13 Dream	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Porl Thompson – guitar Simon Gallup – bass Jason Cooper – drums
2011 Bestival Live 2011 and "Reflections"	Robert Smith – vocals, guitar Simon Gallup – bass Roger O'Donnell – keyboards Jason Cooper – drums	Lol Tolhurst also joined the band for the "Reflections" shows, but to date there has been no indication that he has rejoined them as a permanent member as O'Donnell has.

Guest musicians

In the studio

• Siouxsie Sioux – backing vocals on the b-side "I'm Cold", 1979
• Steve Severin – bass on the Flexipop version of "Lament", 1982
• Steve Goulding – drums on the single "Let's Go to Bed" and its b-side "Just One Kiss", 1982
• Ron Howe – saxophone on the album track "A Night Like This", 1985
• Andrew Brennan – saxophone on the album tracks "Icing Sugar" and "Hey You!!!", 1987
• Kate Wilkinson – viola on the album track "To Wish Impossible Things", 1992
• Caroline Crawley – backing vocals on the b-side "Halo", 1992
• Over a dozen musicians contributed to the Wild Mood Swings album, 1996
  • Jesus Alemany, John Barclay, Steve Dawson, Sid Gauld, Steve Sidwell – trumpets
  • Richard Edwards – trombone, Will Gregory – saxophone
  • Mister Chandrashekhar, Leo Payne, Chris Tombling – violins
  • Sue Dench – viola, Audrey Riley – cello
  • Ronald Austin, Louis Pavlou, Mark Price – drums
• Reeves Gabrels – guitar on the single '"Wrong Number", 1997
• Samantha Sprackling – co-lead vocals on the song "Just Say Yes", 2001

Live

• Gary Biddles – guest vocals on the song "The Cure are Dead" at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, June 11, 1982
• Steve Severin – bass for the "Riverside Ballet" at the BBC's Riverside Studios, March 17, 1983
• Derek Thompson – bass for the Oxford Road Show, March 18, 1983
• Norman Fisher-Jones – bass at the Alabamahalle in Munich, January 30, 1984, and for the Oxford Road Show, February 24, 1984
• Vince Ely – drums during the Top Tour, October 22–November 4, 1984 (between Andy Anderson leaving the band and Boris Williams joining)
• Roberto Soave – bass during the Wish Tour, November 2–21, 1994 (while Simon Gallup was hospitalised with pleurisy)

Studio personnel

Note: Albums listed in this section also include any and all singles, b–sides and unreleased tracks recorded during the same studio sessions, unless otherwise noted.

• Chris Parry – producer, 1978, 1982 (Three Imaginary Boys and "Let's Go to Bed").
  • Mike Hedges – engineer, 1978 (Three Imaginary Boys).
• Steve Nye – producer, 1983 ("The Walk").

• Robert Smith – co-producer, 1979–2008
  • Mike Hedges – co-producer, 1979–1981 (Seventeen Seconds and Faith).
  • Phil Thornalley – co-producer, 1982–1983 (Pornography and "The Lovecats").
  • Chris Parry – co-producer, 1983–1984 ("The Lovecats" and The Top).
  • David M. Allen – co-producer, 1984–1992 (The Top, The Head on the Door, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Disintegration and Wish).
  • Mark Saunders – co-producer, 1990, 1997 (Mixed Up and "Wrong Number").
  • Steve Whitfield – co-producer, 1990 ("Hello, I Love You").
  • Bryan "Chuck" New – co-producer, 1993 ("Purple Haze" and "Burn").
  • Steve Lyon – co-producer, 1995–1996 ("Young Americans", "Dredd Song" and Wild Mood Swings).
  • The Cure – co-producers, 1996 (Wild Mood Swings).
  • Paul Corkett – co-producer, 1998–2000 ("More Than This", "World in My Eyes" and Bloodflowers).
  • Mark Plati – co-producer, 1997, 2001 ("Wrong Number", "Cut Here" and "Just Say Yes").
  • Ross Robinson – co-producer, 2004 (The Cure).
  • Keith Uddin – co-producer, 2008 (4:13 Dream).

Related bands

Note: This section only lists those bands or other projects which have included two or more members of The Cure, and thus only lists each band's members who have either been a part of, or performed with The Cure. See individual articles for more detailed credits.

• Cult Hero – Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst, Michael Dempsey, Matthieu Hartley
• COGASM – Robert Smith, Jason Cooper, Reeves Gabrels
• The Magazine Spies – Simon Gallup, Matthieu Hartley
• Presence – Lol Tolhurst, Michael Dempsey, Gary Biddles, Roberto Soave
• Shelleyan Orphan – Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Caroline Crawley, Roberto Soave
• Babacar – Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Roberto Soave, Caroline Crawley
• Siouxsie and the Banshees – Robert Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin
• The Glove – Robert Smith, Steve Severin, Andy Anderson
• Fools Dance – Simon Gallup, Gary Biddles, Ron Howe
• Levinhurst – Lol Tolhurst, Michael Dempsey
• Associates – Michael Dempsey, Roberto Soave, Steve Goulding
• Strawberry Switchblade – Phil Thornalley, Boris Williams
• The Psychedelic Furs – Roger O'Donnell, Vince Ely
• The Thompson Twins – Boris Williams, Roger O'Donnell
• Tim Pope - Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst, Andy Anderson, Porl Thompson