The Cure guitarist and keyboardist Perry Bamonte dies at 65

Perry Bamonte, a guitarist and keyboard player in The Cure, the seminal post-punk band that brought a dark, gothic sensibility to sparkly, upbeat hits like Friday I’m In Love, died on Dec 24 at his home in the west of England. He was 65.

The Cure announced Bamonte’s death in a statement on its website on Dec 26 that said he had died after “a short illness”.

Bamonte was a roadie and guitar tech for The Cure before he joined the band full time in 1990. The Cure called him “quiet, intense, intuitive, constant and hugely creative”, and a “vital part of The Cure story”.

He played guitar, six-string bass and keyboards on the albums Wish (1992), Wild Mood Swings (1996), Bloodflowers (2000), Acoustic Hits (2001) and The Cure (2004).

The album Wish included the hit song Friday I’m In Love, which spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992 and peaked at No. 18 on Aug 8 that year.

Bamonte performed in 400 shows over 14 years during his first stint with The Cure, playing behind Robert Smith, the gloomily romantic lead singer, who cut an indelible image with his black clothing, tangly mop of hair and smeared lipstick.

After a time away from the band, Bamonte rejoined The Cure in 2022. He played another 90 shows that culminated with the band’s Show Of A Lost World performance in London on Nov 1, 2024, which was later released as a concert film.

Perry Archangelo Bamonte was born Sept 3, 1960, in East London to Peter and Joy Bamonte. He was the second of five children.

He is survived by his wife, Donna, and his siblings Carla and Daryl Bamonte. Daryl was a roadie for Depeche Mode and later became The Cure’s manager.

Known as Teddy, Perry Bamonte grew up as a huge fan of David Bowie and Jeff Beck, but did not start playing the guitar until he was 17, according to the book Never Enough: The Story Of The Cure by Jeff Apter.

He played in several bands before his brother Daryl, who was working for Depeche Mode, got him a job as a roadie for The Cure in 1984, the book said.

Smith’s sister Janet spent a month teaching Bamonte the rudiments of piano, the book said, before Bamonte joined the band, replacing keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, who left The Cure in 1990.

“We could have hired a professional to take his place, but why not use someone who knows all the songs?” Smith was quoted as saying in the book.

Bamonte, for his part, said that moving from backstage tech man to full-time band member was “pretty seamless”.

“My transition to band member was easy because I was friends with everyone already and spent all my time with them,” Bamonte said.

The Cure was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 and performed a well-regarded series of shows in the United States in 2023, when a headline in Rolling Stone proclaimed, The Cure Are This Summer’s Hottest Rock Tour. Yes, Really.

That year, Smith also became something of an internet folk hero when he publicly took on Ticketmaster for adding a litany of fees to tickets his fans had purchased.

He also tried to limit scalpers’ resales to keep prices affordable. In a rare concession, Ticketmaster agreed to make partial refunds to some Cure fans. NYTIMES