The Cure bassist Simon Gallup QUITS band over 'betrayal'
THE CURE bassist Simon Gallup announced this weekend with a "heavy heart" that he would no longer be a part of the band, following a "betrayal".
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The Cure fans were left devastated today as news broke that the band's bassist, Gallup, was leaving the group. He wrote a candid and blunt post on his Facebook account, revealing the reasons behind his exit.
Gallup wrote: "With a slightly heavy heart I am no longer a member of the Cure! Good luck to them all..." (sic)
Fans flocked to his post, asking if he was okay and if his health had somehow impacted his inclusion in the band.
He replied to one fan: "I’m ok… just got fed up of betrayal."
Gallup has been a part of the band since 1985 when he joined alongside drummer Boris Williams.
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The Cure's singer Robert Smith has previously spoken out about the importance of the band's line-up.
In particular, he pointed at Gallup as a key member of the group.
In 2018 he said if Gallup left then "[the band] wouldn't be called The Cure". (Via The Irish Times)
Smith has also spoken candidly about the "dangerous" connection between him and Gallup in the past.
Smith said in 2019: "For me, the heart of the live band has always been Simon, and he’s always been my best friend.
"It’s weird that over the years and the decades he’s often been overlooked. He doesn’t do interviews, he isn’t really out there and he doesn’t play the role of a foil to me in public, and yet he’s absolutely vital to what we do." (Via NME)
He then confessed: "We’ve had some difficult periods over the years but we’ve managed to maintain a very strong friendship that grew out of that shared experience from when we were teens.
"When you have friends like that, particularly for that long, it would take something really extraordinary for that friendship to break."
Smith added: "You’ve done so much together, you’ve so much shared experience, you just don’t want to lose friends like that."
This isn't the first time Gallup has quit the band.
After joining the group in 1979, he quit in 1982.
At the time "tensions" between him and Smith were cited as the reason for his exit.