According to Stereogum, in a recent Facebook post, bassist Simon Gallup announced that he is no longer a member of English alternative rock band, The Cure. There has yet to be an official announcement from the band regarding his exit. 

“With a slightly heavy heart I am no longer a member of the Cure! Good luck to them all.” Gallup wrote on Facebook in an August 14 post. 

This is not the first time Gallup has left the band. Gallup first joined the Cure in 1979 after the release of their debut album Three Imaginary Boys. He stayed with the band contributing to their three successive albums entitled Seventeen Seconds released in 1980, Faith released in 1981 and Pornography released in 1982. 

In 1982, building tension with frontman Robert Smith led to Gallup leaving in the midst of their 1982 Pornography tour after only three years with the band. He returned shortly in 1984 and had been a consistent member of the band for almost four decades. 

The band was originally formed in 1976 with the name Easy Cure which consisted of vocalist Robert Smith, bassist Michael Dempsey, drummer Lol Tolhurst and guitarist Porl Thompson. In 1978 after losing Thompson, the band became The Cure. By 1979, the band had lost Dempsey and gained Gallup and Matthieu Hartley. After multiple shifts in members over the years, the band had received two Grammy award nominations for Best Alternative Music Album for Wish (1992) and Bloodflowers (2001), two NME awards for Best Festival Headliner and Godlike Genius, a Brit Award for Best British Group and an MTV Europe Icon Award.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat