* En anglais uniquement
Billy Duffy's guitar heroics have influenced several generations of musicians from opposite sides of the music world. On one hand,
Duffy's swirling, psychedelic riffs on early records by
the Cult provided a blueprint for gothic rock guitarists; however, when
the Cult began to embrace hard rock, heavy metal enthusiasts discovered a new axeman to idolize. But
Duffy's rock roots aren't in goth or metal; it was punk.
In 1977,
Duffy was in the punk band the Nosebleeds with future
Smiths leader
Morrissey. The Nosebleeds were short-lived; they disbanded after a few gigs. Afterward,
Duffy drifted through a series of groups such as
Slaughter and the Dogs, Studio Sweethearts, and Lonesome No More before joining the Theatre of Hate in 1981, releasing an LP called He Who Dares Wins. In 1982, the Theatre of Hate split up; a year later,
Duffy joined
Death Cult with vocalist
Ian Astbury, Ray Mondo (drummer), and
James Stewart (bassist).
Death Cult was shortened to
the Cult in 1984. While
Duffy's work with
the Cult on their first two albums,
Dreamtime and
Love, flirted with goth and '60s psychedelia, he unleashed his affection for
AC/DC and
Led Zeppelin on
the Cult's
Electric and
Sonic Temple. After
the Cult broke up in 1995,
Duffy had a short stint with Vent 414 and collaborated with former Alarm vocalist
Mike Peters on Colorsound, releasing one self-titled album. In 2000,
Duffy and
Astbury resurrected
the Cult. ~ Michael Sutton