The Cure's bassist, Simon Gallup, has exited the band after 40 years.
The 60-year-old musician shared the news Saturday on Facebook, signaling conflict and "betrayal" as reasons for his departure.
"With a slightly heavy heart I am no longer a member of the Cure ! Good luck to them all," he wrote, later responding to a fan's comment asking if he was OK by stating, he "just got fed up of betrayal."
Gallup joined The Cure in 1979. A clash with the lead singer and guitarist Robert Smith saw him briefly leave in 1982, but the pair smoothed things over and he rejoined the band two years later. Since then, Gallup has remained with the band, only taking a hiatus in 1992 due to health concerns, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Smith previously spoke to NME about his relationship with the bassist, admitting that there had been rocky patches but despite this, their friendship remained solid.
"For me, the heart of the live band has always been Simon, and he's always been my best friend," he said. "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."
Smith added that, although the pair had some "difficult periods over the years," they have "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."
The Cure has changed its lineup several times over the years. There have been a total of 13 people in the band and in 1995, Smith told NME he seemed like a "monstrous" person for booting members from the band but in 2019 said he was happy with the lineup.
"There’s an atmosphere and everyone’s clicking," he said. "For the first time ever, I’m able to talk to the others on stage. Everyone gets on really well, and it’s such a joy to be playing."
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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