The Cure personnel

The following is the history of the The Cure's personnel and various lineups from 1976 to 2012, going back to the English rock group's origins as Malice and Easy Cure, and also including guest musicians, studio personnel, and side projects.

Band members

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

Timeline

Lineup details

Early bands

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

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, and the "Riverside Ballet" version of "Siamese Twins" at the BBC's Riverside Studios, March 17, 1983
• Steve Goulding – drums on the single "Let's Go to Bed" and its b-side "Just One Kiss", 1982
• Anne Stephenson – violin on the "Riverside Ballet" version of "Siamese Twins", 1983
• Virginia Hewes (alias Gini Ball) – violin on the "Riverside Ballet" version of "Siamese Twins", 1983
• Norman Fisher-Jones – bass on the Kid Jensen Sessions for BBC Radio 1 (producing early studio versions of "The Empty World", "Piggy In The Mirror", "Give Me It" and "Bananafishbones"), 2 February 1984
• Ron Howe – saxophone on the album track "A Night Like This", 1985
• Rent Party – brass section (credited as "horns" [sic]) on the single version of "Close to Me", 1985
• Andrew Brennan – saxophone on the album tracks "Icing Sugar" and "Hey You!!!", 1987
• Sugar J. – additional rhythm overdubs on William Orbit's "Shiver Mix" of "Inbetween Days" (Mixed Up), 1990
• 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 – lead guitars on "Wrong Number", 1997
• Samantha Sprackling – co-lead vocals on the song "Just Say Yes", 2001
• Earl Slick – lead guitars on the Mark Plati remix of "A Forest", 2004

Live

• Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin – joined The Cure for an extended encore of the Siouxsie and the Banshees song "The Lord's Prayer", in Aberdeen, September 6, 1979
• Gary Biddles – guest vocals on the song "The Cure are Dead" at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, June 11, 1982
• Paul Bell, Andreas Grimminger, Adrian Wyatt and Korda Marshall (Zerra One) – also joined The Cure (and Gary Biddles) during the final live encore of the Fourteen Explicit Moments tour, in Brussels, June 11, 1982
• Derek Thompson – bass for the Oxford Road Show, March 18, 1983
• Norman Fisher-Jones – temporary bassist January-February, 1984 (while Phil Thornalley was unavailable)
• Vince Ely – drums during the Top Tour, October 22–November 4, 1984 (between Andy Anderson leaving the band and Boris Williams joining)
• Frank Bell – guest vocalist during encores of "I'm a Cult Hero" and "I Dig You" in Brighton, September 14, 1985, and in London, March 5, 2004
• Caroline Crawley and Jermaur Tayle (Shelleyan Orphan) – joined The Cure on-stage during "Forever" for the final live encore of The Prayer Tour, in Mansfield, Massachusetts, September 23, 1989
• Roberto Soave – bass during the Wish Tour, November 2–21, 1992 (while Simon Gallup was hospitalised)
• Alison Shaw, Jim Shaw, Mark Francombe and Matt Cope (Cranes) – joined The Cure for "Forever" during the final live encore of the Wish Tour, in Dublin, December 3, 1992
• Ray Cokes – guest live guitarist for "Friday I'm In Love" at MTV Studios, London, 15 December 1995, and on "Boys Don't Cry" live in Paris, October 26, 2001
• Wayne Hussey – guest guitarist for encores of "A Forest" and "Forever" during the Swing Tour, in Los Angeles, 11 August 1996, and for "In Between Days" and "A Forest" (again in LA), October 28, 1997
• Reeves Gabrels – several guest appearances on guitar during American tour dates October-December, 1997
• Saffron – guest vocalist on "Just Say Yes", in Paris, October 26, 2001
• Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Hewitt (Placebo) – joined The Cure for a performance of "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep", in Paris, 14 October 2004

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, 1982–1984 (Pornography, "The Love Cats", Curiosity (Killing the Cat): Cure Anomalies 1977–1984).
  • Chris Parry – co-producer, 1983–1984 ("The Love Cats" and The Top).
  • David M. Allen – co-producer, 1984–1992 (The Top, Concert: The Cure Live, The Head on the Door, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Disintegration, Mixed Up 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, 1990, 1993 ("Pictures of You", Mixed Up, Entreat, Show, Paris, "Purple Haze" and "Burn").
  • Steve Lyon – co-producer, 1995–1996 ("Young Americans", "Dredd Song" and Wild Mood Swings).
  • The Cure – co-producers, 1981 (Faith), 1982 (Pornography), 1984 (Concert: The Cure Live), 1990 (Entreat), 1992 (Wish), 1996 (Wild Mood Swings).
  • Paul Corkett – co-producer, 1998–2000 ("More Than This", "World in My Eyes" and Bloodflowers).
  • Mark Plati – co-producer, 1997, 2001-2003 ("Wrong Number", "Cut Here", "Just Say Yes" and Join the Dots remix of "A Forest").
  • Ross Robinson – co-producer, 2004 (The Cure).
  • Keith Uddin – Co-Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Programmer 2005-present (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
• The Magazine Spies – Simon Gallup, Matthieu Hartley
• Associates – Michael Dempsey, Roberto Soave, Robert Smith, Steve Goulding
• The Stranglers – Robert Smith, Matthieu Hartley
• Siouxsie and the Banshees – Robert Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, Anne Stephenson, Virginia "Gini" Ball (née Hewes)
• The Glove – Robert Smith, Steve Severin, Andy Anderson, Anne Stephenson, Virginia Hewes, Porl Thompson
• Marc and the Mambas – Robert Smith, Steve Severin, Anne Stephenson, Virginia Hewes
• The Venomettes – Anne Stephenson, Virginia Hewes
• Roxy Music – Michael Dempsey, Steve Goulding
• Fools Dance – Simon Gallup, Gary Biddles, Ron Howe, Matthieu Hartley
• Tim Pope – Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst, Andy Anderson, Porl Thompson
• The Flirtations – Roger O'Donnell, Boris Williams
• Strawberry Switchblade – Phil Thornalley, Boris Williams
• The Psychedelic Furs – Roger O'Donnell, Vince Ely
• The Thompson Twins – Boris Williams, Roger O'Donnell, Steve Goulding
• Shelleyan Orphan – Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Caroline Crawley, Roberto Soave
• Babacar – Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Roberto Soave, Caroline Crawley
• Presence – Lol Tolhurst, Michael Dempsey, Gary Biddles, Roberto Soave, Porl Thompson
• Cranes – Robert Smith, Porl Thompson
• Levinhurst – Lol Tolhurst, Michael Dempsey, Andy Anderson
• David Bowie – Robert Smith, Reeves Gabrels, Earl Slick, Mark Plati, Steve Goulding
• COGASM – Robert Smith, Jason Cooper, Reeves Gabrels