\n<\/p>\n
\n\tPerry Bamonte, who played guitar, keys, and other instruments in the Cure<\/a> from 1990 to 2005, and again from 2022 to 2024, has died. He was 65.<\/p>\n \n\tThe band confirmed<\/a> the news Friday, Dec. 26, saying Bamonte \u201cpassed away after a short illness at home over Christmas,\u201d without giving specifics. \u201cQuiet, intense, intuitive, constant, and hugely creative, \u2018Teddy\u2019 was a warm hearted and vital part of the Cure story,\u201d the band said.<\/p>\n \n\tBamonte, who was once Robert Smith\u2019s guitar tech, joined the Cure a couple of years before they recorded Wish<\/a> <\/em>(1992). He played guitar and keyboards on the album, as well as six-string bass on the singles \u201cFriday I\u2019m in Love\u201d<\/a> and \u201cA Letter to Elise.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tSimilarly, Bamonte played the aforementioned instruments on Wild Mood Swings <\/em>(1996), including its singles \u201cThe 13th\u201d and \u201cMint Car.\u201d He focused more on guitar on Bloodflowers <\/em>(2000) and The Cure <\/em>(2004). Bamonte also contributed to the art direction and photography for some Cure albums.<\/p>\n \n\tPerry Archangelo Bamonte, was born Sept. 3, 1960 in London and grew up in nearby Basildon. He attended school with Martin Gore, who later cofounded Depeche Mode. He said he felt discouraged from playing guitar while in school but nevertheless took up the instrument at age 17. <\/p>\n \n\tHis brother Daryl, who had worked as Depeche Mode\u2019s roadie, helped him get a gig as the Cure\u2019s roadie in 1984. He earned the nickname \u201cTeddy,\u201d Smith recalled, because he\u2019d once checked into a hotel as \u201cEdward Van Menthe\u201d and because \u201che bangs his head like one.\u201d Tour programs from the Eighties variously credited Bamonte as \u201cbackline,\u201d \u201cassistant tour manager,\u201d and, in 1989, \u201cguitar technician.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhen keyboardist Roger O\u2019Donnell left the Cure in 1990, Bamonte replaced him in the lineup. His teacher on keyboards was Smith\u2019s sister Janet, as he\u2019d been playing the instrument at that point only a few months. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEveryone who plays in the Cure is as \u2018permanent\u2019 as you can be\u2026 if Perry (Teddy) writes some stuff and it\u2019s good, we\u2019ll play it!\u201d Smith wrote in a 1990 newsletter about Bamonte\u2019s arrival. Bamonte must have made an impression because the Cure\u2019s more guitar-oriented direction on Wish<\/em> allowed him to switch back to his preferred instrument.<\/p>\n