Perry Bamonte of The Cure during a concert as part of their 'A Lost World Tour' at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, USA on July 1, 2023. PHOTO: Larry Marano / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Perry Bamonte, the guitarist and keyboardist of the band The Cure, has died at the age of 65, the English indie rock band announced on its official website, according to international news agencies.
In a statement released Friday, the band wrote that Perry Bamonte, nicknamed “Teddy,” died “after a brief illness at home” on Christmas Day.
“It is with great sadness that we confirm the death of our great friend and bandmate, Perry Bamonte, who passed away after a short illness at home over Christmas,” the band said in a statement, adding that he was “a vital part of The Cure's story.”
“Discreet, intense, intuitive, consistent and extremely creative, “Teddy” was a person with a warm soul and an essential part of the story of The Cure band. (…) We will miss him enormously”, the rock band also sent, according to Agerpres.
The release notes that Bamonte has been a full member of The Cure since 1990, playing guitar, six-string bass and keyboards and playing more than 400 concerts, the most recent of which were “among the best in the group's history.”
Bamonte, born in London, England in 1960, joined the band's technical team in 1984, working alongside his younger brother Daryl, who worked as The Cure's tour manager.
Bamonte initially worked as an assistant to co-founder and lead vocalist Robert Smith before becoming a full member after keyboardist Roger O'Donnell left the band in 1990.
Bamonte's first album with The Cure was “Wish” in 1992. He continued to work with them on the next three albums.
Although he left the band in 2005 to pursue illustration and fishing, he returned prior to the group's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Bamonte finally returned in 2022 for the Shows of a Lost World World Tour.
He also had various roles in films such as 'Judge Dredd', 'About Time' and 'The Crow'.
Led by the unmistakable vocals of Robert Smith, The Cure helped shape gothic rock with albums like Pornography (1982). The band later found success with more upbeat songs, including “Friday I'm in Love”. Their last albums were released in 2008 (“4:13 Dream”) and last year with “Songs of a Lost World”.
On Instagram, the band's drummer Lol Tolhurst said he was “very sad” at Bamonte's death, adding: “Goodbye Teddy.”
Perry Bamonte was also the bassist for Love Amongst Ruin, which released two studio albums.
