The Cure’s Roger O’Donnell to miss South America tour due to health reasons
Roger O’Donnell, the keyboardist of The Cure, will miss the group’s upcoming shows in the region of Latin America due to health reasons.
Robert Smith’s goth heroes are set to commence on their final leg of performances scheduled for 2023 later this month, which follows on from the group wrapping up their extensive North American tour in the summer. Set to perform in countries such as Brazil, Chile and Mexico, the run of dates will keep them busy until the middle of December.
However, taking to Twitter on November 14th, ahead of the latest shows kicking off, The Cure announced O’Donnell will be missing it. They cited “health reasons” for the decision, writing, “We are sure you will join with us in wishing him the speediest of recoveries.’ In the same post, the band revealed that Mike Lord will take O’Donnell’s place for the run.
After being longtime friends with the band’s drummer, Boris Williams, Roger O’Donnell first joined The Cure in 1987 and was enlisted to play keyboards on the Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me tour. Despite not appearing on the album, he still featured in the music videos for songs such as ‘Just Like Heaven’ from the record. He became a fully integrated band member for their 1989 follow-up, Disintegration.
O’Donnell’s songwriting contributions from this era can be heard on the tracks ‘Out of Mind’ and ‘Fear of Ghosts’, the B-sides to the Disintegration hits, ‘Lullaby’ and ‘Lovesong’, respectively. He first left the band in 1990 before re-joining in 1994 and departing in 2005, after Robert Smith reconfigured the group as a trio. He entered the fold once more in 2011.
In other Cure news, founding member, former drummer and keyboardist, Lol Tolhurst, recently collaborated with Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer Budgie and producer Jacknife Lee to create the album Los Angeles.
Discussing the subject of the record, Tolhurst told Far Out: “Los Angeles is my home and has been for 30 years. With its glitz and grime for better or worse, I love the place that changed my life’s trajectory.”
See The Cure’s post regarding Roger O’Donnell below.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.