Laurence Tolhurst
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Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959, in Horley, Surrey, England), better known as Lol Tolhurst, is a founding member and former drummer and keyboardist of British band The Cure. He left The Cure in 1989 and was later involved in the band Presence and his current project Levinhurst, which bears the names of him and his wife, vocalist Cindy Levinson.

Early years

Tolhurst 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).¹ 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. Tolhurst 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.² Since then, Tolhurst has married Cindy Levinson with whom he has formed an electronic band called Levinhurst.

The Cure

Tolhurst is one of the co-founders of The Cure, and as a drummer he helped write and record the albums Three Imaginary Boys, Boys Don't Cry, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography. After the Pornography tour in 1982 Tolhurst assumed keyboard duties.

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. He said several years later that he recorded a second album with this band, but he said it is unlikely that it will ever be released.³ 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.⁴

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 said in an interview that he had reconciled with Robert Smith and that the two of them were friends again.⁵ 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" - which he claimed credit for writing lyrically in another interview⁶ - and two other songs. Their second album, House By The Sea, was released on 17 April 2007. They are presently working on a third album and Lol confirmed on their official website that the original Cure bassist Michael Dempsey is involved with the project.⁷ This album will be called Blue Star and is slated for release in May 2009. ⁸

Discography

→ See The Cure discography
→ See Presence discography
→ See Levinhurst Discography

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2008)

• He produced the first two singles and the debut album of And Also the Trees.
• Tolhurst appears in the music video for 311's cover of "Lovesong".⁹
• Tolhurst was born on the day of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.
• 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.¹⁰

References

External links

• Levinhurst
• Lol's MySpace
• Interview with Tolhurst at chaindlk.com
• Interview with Tolhurst at freewilliamsburg.com