eMusic

Start Your Trial

Ian Astbury

Ian Astbury

Rate it!

Avg: 4.5 (5 ratings)

  • Born: May. 14, 1962 in Heswall, England
  • Years Active: 1990s, 2000s

Biography

Best known as the longtime frontman for the Cult, singer Ian Astbury was born on May 14, 1962 in Merseyside, England. The son of a career merchant naval officer, he led a peripatetic childhood, finally settling in the Yorkshire area in 1981; there Astbury formed the goth-rock outfit the Southern Death Cult, which following a series of roster shifts and name truncations emerged as simply the Cult in 1984. Also featuring guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's darkly-psychedlic hard rock approach found favor both at home and abroad thanks to their fine sophomore effort Love; 1987's Electric featured an even harder-edged sound, and on the strength of the hit "Love Removal Machine" cracked the U.S. Top 40. 1989's Sonic Temple was the Cult's commercial peak, generating the smash "Fire Woman, " but subsequent efforts like 1991's Ceremony failed to recreate earlier successes, and the group disbanded in 1995; Astbury soon resurfaced in the Holy Barbarians, issuing Cream in 1996. The Holy Barbarians proved short-lived, however, and in 1999 Astbury reunited with Duffy to tour under the Cult banner; that same year, he issued his solo debut Natural Born Guerilla.
— Jason Ankeny , All Music Guide

Related Artists Ancestors, Peers and Acolytes

Roots and Influences:

John Kay & Company, John Kay & Steppenwolf

“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

Recently Viewed

Back
Forward

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.

Legal or copyright question regarding Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or Wikipedia content on eMusic? Please email us.