Perry Bamonte, The Cure’s Guitarist & Keyboardist, Dead at 65 After ‘a Short Illness’

Perry Bamonte, The Cure‘s guitarist and keyboardist, died over the Christmas break, the band announced in a message posted to its website on Friday (Dec. 26). The musician was 65 years old.

“It is with enormous 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 Grammy-nominated band began its statement. “Quiet, intense, intuitive, constant and hugely creative, ‘Teddy’ was a warm-hearted and vital part of The Cure story.”

The musician joined the band — which is comprised of frontman Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Reeves Gabrels and Jason Cooper — full time in 1990 after initially joining as a roadie in 1984. He played the guitar, six-string bass and keyboard on 1992’s Grammy-nominated Wish, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and included Billboard Hot 100 hit “Friday I’m in Love”; 1996’s Wild Mood Swings, which reached No. 12; 2000’s Bloodflowers; 2001’s Acoustic Hits and 2004’s self-titled album.

Bamonte — who was born Sept. 3, 1960, in London — left the band in 2005 after 14 years and more than 400 shows together. He was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame alongside The Cure in 2019, with Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor delivering the induction speech. Since the English rock band launched its debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, in 1979, it has been cited by numerous musicians as a major musical influence, including NIN, Deftones, My Chemical Romance, The Smashing Pumpkins, Phoebe Bridgers and Oasis.

“He rejoined The Cure in 2022, playing another 90 shows, some of the best in the band’s history, culminating with The Show of a Lost World concert in London 1st November 2024,” the band’s statement and tribute to Bamonte noted before its conclusion. “Our thoughts and condolences are with all his family. He will be very greatly missed.”

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.