Lol Tolhurst

Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (born Laurence Andrew Tolhurst, 3 February 1959, in Horley, Surrey, England) is a founding member and former drummer/keyboardist for the UK goth rock band, The Cure.

EARLY YEARS

Lol is the fifth of six children born to William and Daphne Tolhurst; he has three brothers (Roger, Nigel, and John) and two sisters (Jane and Barbara). Tolhurst was five years old when he first met Robert Smith at St. Francis Primary and Junior Schools, and thus began a friendship that would culminate in the formation of The Cure. Lol has been married twice. He married his first wife Lydia some time in 1989 and they had one son together, but they have since divorced. Since then, Lol has remarried Cindy Levinson with whom he has formed an electronic band called Levinhurst.

THE CURE

At the time of the band's founding, Tolhurst played drums, and as a drummer he helped record the albums Three Imaginary Boys, Boys Don't Cry, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography. After the 'Pornography' tour in 1982, however, Tolhurst assumed keyboard duties. Throughout 1986 and 1987, Tolhurst became a victim of excessive alcohol and drug use, often making him unable to perform, and this led to having Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell frequently filling his place. In early 1989, the rest of the band decided that they had enough, and fired Tolhurst because he was hardly contributing anything by this point. This paved the way for O'Donnell to permanently fill in the empty slot.

Tolhurst's contributions to every Cure album following Pornography may be questionable due to his destructive habits, as well as the fact that other band members were also credited for playing the keyboard. However, it should be noted that that was also sometimes the case with Roger O'Donnell; the only albums on which he was credited for single-handedly playing all keyboard tracks were Wild Mood Swings and the band's self-titled album. Additionally, on the album The Top Tolhurst receives co-writing credit on several tracks while other members at that time remain unlisted.

POST 'THE CURE'

Following his departure from The Cure, Tolhurst and Gary Biddles - who previously worked with Simon Gallup in Fools Dance - formed the short lived band Presence, which only released one full-length album called Inside. In 1994, he sued Robert Smith and Fiction Records over royalties payments, also claiming joint ownership of the name The Cure with Smith. He eventually lost after a long legal battle.

In the early 2000s, Tolhurst and his wife Cindy Levinson formed a band called Levinhurst. A few months prior to the release of their debut album, Tolhurst claimed in an interview that he had reconciled with Robert Smith and that the two of them were friends again. Shortly afterward, Levinhurst released their debut album, Perfect Life, in 2004. Since then, they have also released an EP called The Grey featuring a cover of The Cure's "All Cats Are Grey" and two other songs. Their second album, House By The Sea, was released on 17 April 2007.

DISCOGRAPHY

See The Cure discography

See Presence discography

See Levinhurst discography

TRIVIA

The song "Shiver and Shake" off Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me is said to be based upon the other band members' frustration with Lol as he became increasingly unreliable due to his drinking and drug abuse.

According to Robert Smith, Tolhurst did not contribute anything whatsoever to the albums Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and Disintegration but he was credited anyway for contractual reasons. However, according to Tolhurst, he wrote "A Thousand Hours" and "Homesick". Recently, Roger O'Donnell confirmed that Tolhurst did, in fact, write "Homesick".

Tolhurst appears in the music video for 311's cover of "Lovesong".

Tolhurst was born on the day of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

Somewhat ironic is the fact that Tolhurst went on to work with Gary Biddles, who once insulted him during a concert. Biddles is famous, or infamous, for stirring up trouble when he got on stage during a concert and started singing, "Smith's a wanker, Tolhurst's a wanker, only Simon is worth anything in this band."

In the same interview where Tolhurst claimed that he and Robert Smith had reconciled, he also confirmed that he has a son, who was eleven years old at the time. When asked if his son showed any signs of musical talent as well, Tolhurst said he doesn't try to push it on him, but lately he (his son) had taken up the guitar and fell in love with it right away.