The Cure's keyboard player Roger O'Donnell and guitarist Perry Bamonte have left the band. There is no official explanation for their departure, but sources suggest that the increasingly difficult relationship between frontman Robert Smith and O'Donnell may have played a part. The Cure's official website stated that "The decade old line-up of The Cure has changed - Perry Bamonte and Roger O'Donnell are no longer in the band. The forthcoming summer shows will be performed by Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper... And others???"
What seems clear is that the pair were effectively dropped. O'Donnell wrote in a statement on his website "As of Tuesday this week I am no longer a member of the Cure. It was sad to find out after nearly 20 years the way I did but then I should have expected no less or more." The keyboard player first played with the band from 1987 to 1990, when he was replaced by Perry Bamonte, a former Cure roadie. Bamonte switched to lead guitar after the departure of Porl Thompson in 1993, and O'Donnell returned to the band in 1995. The band's first appearance post-split will be on 5 Aug at Castellon in Spain.