The Cult

The Cult are a British rock band formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in the UK in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the US in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine" and "Fire Woman". The band fuse a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of the Doors [and] the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford during 1981, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's two songwriters.