Billy Duffy’s Net Worth & Bio, Leilani Dowding’s Fiancé RHOCheshire

Billy Duffy started playing guitar at the age of fourteen, influenced by Queen, Thin Lizzy, The Who, Aerosmith, Blue Oyster Cult, and Led Zeppelin’s early work.

In the late 1970s, while still in high school, Billy began playing lead guitar with a variety of punk bands, including the Studio Sweethearts. He directly persuaded Johnny Marr to begin playing as a guitarist in Manchester, and he urged Morrissey to make his first excursion as a singer/frontman with The Nosebleeds.

When the “Studio Sweethearts” relocated to London after Billy graduated from high school, he worked as a shop assistant at Johnsons on the King’s Road in Chelsea. Following the breakup of the “Studio Sweethearts,” he started playing lead guitar part-time with the band “Theatre of Hate.”

Later, he met Ian Astbury, the frontman/lead vocalist for the “Southern Death Cult” at the time, who was so pleased with Billy’s abilities that he resigned the Southern Death Cult to form “Death Cult” with him.

The band changed their name to “The Cult” after releasing two singles. Billy developed a unique flanged sound on The Cult’s debut single “Spiritwalker” utilizing an unfashionable choice of guitar at the time – a mid-1970s Gretsch White Falcon, which became his hallmark sound and image. The album “Love” was released after this and their song “She Sells Sanctuary” was a smash.

Billy helped transform The Cult’s music into metal-blues for their third album, “Electric,” in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The two composition collaborators (together with longstanding bassist Jamie Stewart) recorded “Sonic Temple,” a stadium rock album. The Cult gained a wider, mainstream following, but their second album, “Ceremony,” released at the onset of the grunge era, failed to hold the public’s interest.

Moreover, following the 1992 “Ceremonial Stomp” tour, Astbury pushed him to record The Cult’s The Cult album, which he did. Astbury eventually left Billy and The Cult in 1995 as a result of this.

Billy engaged in a project called “Coloursound” with Mike Peters of The Alarm during The Cult’s four-year break, and he also participated on the title track from Japanese singer J’s 1997 first album, “Pyromania.”

In 1999, the musician reconstituted “The Cult” with Astbury, resulting in a new recording deal with Atlantic Records. This was followed by a performance in Atlanta’s Music Midtown Festival in May 2001, in front of nearly 60,000 people, preceding up to the release of “Beyond Good and Evil.”

The album’s lead song, “Rise,” peaked at No. 125 in the US and spent six weeks at No. 3 on the mainstream rock chart before being taken off the air a week after its release. Sales, reviews, and tour attendance were all disappointing. When Astbury accepted an invitation to sing with The Doors in 2002, he put The Cult on hold once more.

Billy and Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell founded the covers band Cardboard Vampyres in early 2004. Mötley Crüe and Ratt frontman John Corabi, The Cult bassist Chris Wyse, and drummer Josh Howser were all in the band. Between 2004 and 2005, the band performed at a variety of venues around the United States. They mostly performed on the West Coast but the band did not release any albums.

The Cult reassembled in early 2006 and toured Europe following numerous US shows. Billy starred in Ethan Dettenmaier’s 2006 film Sin-Jin Smyth, which was shot but never released.

In addition, Billy released a debut album with his new band, “Circus Diablo,” in early 2006. He played lead guitar on the album, with former Cult touring bassist Billy Morrison taking lead vocals and bass guitar duties. Ricky Warwick, the former leader of The Almighty, provided rhythm guitar on the album. Matt Sorum, former Cult drummer and current Velvet Revolver drummer, also contributed to the album.

Former Fuel member Brett Scallions was recruited as bassist after the album was finished, allowing Morrison to focus on being the main singer. The band then hired Jeremy Colson, who had previously worked with Steve Vai, as their full-time drummer, but Billy’s participation terminated in 2007.

Billy also became a judge on the Bodog Music Battle of the Bands in 2007 and had an appearance in the TV show “Married to Rock” in 2010, which starred his then-girlfriend, AJ Celi.

In October 2012, he played with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony at the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for Sammy Hagar’s Birthday Bash. He was additionally a member of the Kings of Chaos from 2012 to 2016.