Mike Peters (The Alarm) with Billy Duffy (The Cult), Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats) and Dave Wakeling (General Public) performing "Strength" on the observation deck of the Empire State building. Mike is a leukemia survivor and this event kicked off his "Love, Hope, Strength" foundation which will raise money and awareness in the fight against cancer. Prior to the performance, Mike, the band and a few friends climbed the stairs of the Empire State building (86 floors). This is symbolic as Mike and company are going to base camp at Mount Everest in October to raise money for his foundation.
About Billy:
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.
He was born William Henry Duffy in 1961 and grew up in Manchester, England, where he began playing guitar at 14. Billy started in a band called "The Nosebleeds", which featured Steven Morrissey (later of the Smiths) on vocals (a replacement for Ed Banger, later of the last incarnation of Slaughter and the Dogs). Billy also taught Johnny Marr how to play guitar. Before Theatre of Hate he was in Slaughter (minus the dogs), aka the Studio Sweethearts (the name "Slaughter" wasn't getting any gigs or recording deals...). A temporary band, The Andy Blade Group, featured Andy Blade of "Eater" (76-78 punk outfit), then onto Lonesome No More, and finally, Theatre of Hate. After he left TOH, living in Coldharbour Manor, (home of others like Sex Gang Children, Under Two Flags, and UK Decay) he and Abbo, singer of the recently deceased punk / gothic veteran band UK Decay, wrote "Brothers Grimm", but nothing came of it and they went their own ways. The death cult was formed by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, out of the ashes of the bands theatre of hate (Duffy), southern death cult (Astbury), and ritual, (Ray Mondo and Jamie Stewart). Duffy and Astbury knew each other from an SDC/TOH tour in 1982. They got along, had similar ideas, and the death cult was formed. Later they recruited Nigel Preston (also formerly of TOH, drumming with sex gang children at the time).
As early as The Cult's debut single "Spiritwalker", Duffy began establishing a distinctive sound with an offbeat choice of guitar, a late 1950's Gretsch White Falcon. His fusion of punk and rock riffs, intricately connected, inhabited a middle ground between U2's The Edge and Jimi Hendrix. Duffy's sound (unique, with a dark, mystic vibe) perfectly complemented Astbury's cultural eccentricity. With songs like "She Sells Sanctuary", "The Phoenix", and "Nirvana" (from their second album, 1985's critically acclaimed "Love"), Duffy would ultimately be guaranteed a slot as one of alternative rock's original guitarists.
Duffy's charm was hardly cheapened by The Cult's wild departure into metal-blues on their third album, 1987's "Electric", the credit for which partially goes to an overzealous AC/DC fan, rap producer Rick Rubin. Rubin gave both Duffy and The Cult some much-needed new musical direction.
Duffy moved to Los Angeles in 1988 with Astbury. There, the two writing partners (with longtime bassist Jamie Stewart) turned to stadium rock and recorded their ambitious album "Sonic Temple". It was (by Astbury's account at least) suppose to be a marriage of their "Love" and "Electric" albums, but most diehard Cult fans seemed to prefer their older songs left by the wayside, "Zap City" or "Love Trooper". Duffy had traded in his Gretsch for a Les Paul. The Cult thus reached a larger, mainstream audience. The attention from the public could not be sustained as The Cult floundered with their next album, "Ceremony", at the dawn of the grunge age.
Following the "Ceremonial Stomp" tour of 1992, Astbury pressured Duffy to pull back on the rock shenanigans and get real. Duffy acquiesced, and the result was some of his best work ever, on The Cult's self-titled "black sheep" album. Ironically, it was Astbury who subjected many of the songs to lyrical deficiency, reflecting an overall weariness which would lead to his departure from Duffy and The Cult. During The Cult's four-year hiatus, Billy Duffy played with Mike Peters of The Alarm in a project called "Coloursound". They got a good but small response in the U.K. before Duffy reformed The Cult with Astbury for their successful 1999 tour, which led to a new contract with Atlantic Records. This was capped off by a show at Atlanta's Music Midtown Festival in May of 2001, where over 60,000 people watched them perform, leading up to the release of their most recent album, "Beyond Good and Evil". In 2002 Ian Astbury sent The Cult onto a hiatus once more, when an offer to sing with The Doors came his way.
In 2004, Duffy got together with Jerry Cantrell and formed the heavy-metal covers band Cardboard Vampyres. They both had played a few Camp Freddy gigs and enjoyed themselves so much that they decided to form their own group. The Cardboard Vampyres play songs from both Alice in Chains and The Cult, as well as covers of tunes by artists like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and others. As of yet, there are no plans for the group to write or record any original material.
..This profile was edited with Thomas' myspace editor™ V2.5