Perry Bamonte, who played guitar, keys, and other instruments in the Cure from 1990 to 2005, and again from 2022 to 2024, has died. He was 65.
The band confirmed the news Friday, Dec. 26, saying Bamonte “passed away after a short illness at home over Christmas,” without giving specifics. “Quiet, intense, intuitive, constant, and hugely creative, ‘Teddy’ was a warm hearted and vital part of the Cure story,” the band said.
Bamonte, who was once Robert Smith’s guitar tech, joined the Cure a couple of years before they recorded Wish (1992). He played guitar and keyboards on the album, as well as six-string bass on the singles “Friday I’m in Love” and “A Letter to Elise.”
Similarly, Bamonte played the aforementioned instruments on Wild Mood Swings (1996), including its singles “The 13th” and “Mint Car.” He focused more on guitar on Bloodflowers (2000) and The Cure (2004). Bamonte also contributed to the art direction and photography for some Cure albums.
Perry Archangelo Bamonte, was born Sept. 3, 1960 in London and grew up in nearby Basildon. He attended school with Martin Gore, who later cofounded Depeche Mode. He said he felt discouraged from playing guitar while in school but nevertheless took up the instrument at age 17.
His brother Daryl, who had worked as Depeche Mode’s roadie, helped him get a gig as the Cure’s roadie in 1984. He earned the nickname “Teddy,” Smith recalled, because he’d once checked into a hotel as “Edward Van Menthe” and because “he bangs his head like one.” Tour programs from the Eighties variously credited Bamonte as “backline,” “assistant tour manager,” and, in 1989, “guitar technician.”
When keyboardist Roger O’Donnell left the Cure in 1990, Bamonte replaced him in the lineup. His teacher on keyboards was Smith’s sister Janet, as he’d been playing the instrument at that point only a few months.
“Everyone who plays in the Cure is as ‘permanent’ as you can be… if Perry (Teddy) writes some stuff and it’s good, we’ll play it!” Smith wrote in a 1990 newsletter about Bamonte’s arrival. Bamonte must have made an impression because the Cure’s more guitar-oriented direction on Wish allowed him to switch back to his preferred instrument.
After Bamonte joined the Cure in 1990, he had trouble explaining just what being part of the band meant to him. “I still haven’t really had time to put into words what it feels like to be onstage with them,” he told Spin that year. “When we were in Paris, we did this concert outdoors, and it was my first time playing live with them. It was an unannounced show; people found out about it only a couple of hours before we went on. That was the best thing for me, because it wasn’t like going and having the hall filled up with Cure fans. That would have been more nerve racking.”
He became the band’s lead guitarist upon Pearl Thompson’s exit in 1994; and O’Donnell’s return the next year allowed him to focus even more on guitar. Bamonte and O’Donnell both left the Cure in 2005. The keyboardist told Billboard at the time that Smith had wanted to turn the Cure into a trio. “I just feel something like relief,” Bamonte said in 2006 of leaving the band. “I agree that the circumstances were sad, but I had no control over that.”
After the Cure, he took a year off from making music. He became artistic director of a publication called Fly Culture, which covered fly fishing, a favorite sport of his.
He eventually returned to music with Love Amongst Ruin, a supergroup featuring former members of Placebo and Lamb. He played on their 2015 album, Lose Your Way.
In 2019, Bamonte was among the current and former Cure members inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He rejoined the band as a touring member in 2022 for their Shows of a Lost World tour, though he was not a member of the band when they recorded Songs of a Lost World (2024).
The band’s tribute to Bamonte noted that he performed at more than 400 shows with the Cure. “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 said.
Looking back in 2006, Bamonte said his early days with the band were the most meaningful to him. “I have to say that Wish was by far my favorite [album I played on],” he said. “Obviously the fact that I had just joined the band has a lot to do with that, but it came on the back of Disintegration, the band were really at their peak, and it really felt that way. It felt like the world was ours for the taking.”
