Round Hill Music has acquired the classic back catalog of Billy Duffy, songwriter and guitarist with UK rock band, The Cult.

Today’s news follows Round Hill’s announcement on Monday (January 11) that it has acquired the catalog of Canadian songwriter Jim Vallance.

The Cult gained a following in the UK in the mid-1980s with hit singles such as Spirit Walker and She Sells Sanctuary, before breaking into the mainstream in the United States later in the decade with singles such as Love Removal Machine and Fire Woman alongside multi-million selling albums including Electric, Sonic Temple and Ceremony.

Manchester born Billy Duffy moved to London in the early 1980s and began playing lead guitar with the band Theatre of Hate before meeting Ian Astbury, who was at that time the frontman/lead vocalist with the Southern Death Cult.

They then started a new band called Death Cult.

After releasing two singles, the band shortened its name to The Cult and released their debut single Spirit Walker ahead of their acclaimed first album Dreamtime .

The band released their second album Love in 1985, which charted at number four in the UK and included singles such as She Sells Sanctuary and Rain. 

Produced by Rick Rubin, The Cult’s third album Electric , released in 1987,  features some of the band’s most popular songs including Fire Woman, Sun King, Edie (Ciao Baby) and Sweet Soul Sister, and introduced the band to new fanbase particularly in the US. 

In 1988 Duffy moved to Los Angeles, where he began work on the band’s 1989 album Sonic Temple.

This period saw The Cult’s popularity soar with the band filling stadiums around the world.  The band’s popularity then peaked with the release of 1991’s Ceremony before they took a break  in 1995. 

They reformed  in 1999 only to enter another hiatus in 2002 before getting back together again in 2006 to perform a series of worldwide tours.

“We jumped at the chance to work with Billy Duffy when we heard he was looking for new home for his catalogue.”

Josh Gruss, Round Hill

They have since released three more studio albums: Born in This  (2007), Choice of Weapon  (2012) and Hidden City  (2016), which are not included in this agreement.

In April 2019, The Cult announced a world tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their fourth album Sonic Temple and in 2020 they revealed their intentions to record a new album with producer Tom Dalgety at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales where they recorded their debut album.

This record will be released on Round Hill’s rock dedicated label, Black Hill Records.

“I’ve worked with Billy before and he’s a genuine rock legend; The Cult are up there among the best bands this country has ever produced.”

Robin Godfrey-Cass, Round Hill

Robin Godfrey-Cass, Managing Director of Round Hill’s London office said: “I’ve worked with Billy before and he’s a genuine rock legend; The Cult are up there among the best bands this country has ever produced.

“This an absolute buzz for me as a longtime fan and I am completely honoured to be working with him again.”

Josh Gruss, Founder and CEO of Round Hill Music, said: “We jumped at the chance to work with Billy Duffy when we heard he was looking for new home for his catalogue.

“It’s been a thrill getting to know Billy over the last several years. He has built such an amazingly rich and enduring body of work over the last four decades and is still full of creativity and energy, it’s inspiring.” 

“I wasn’t going to let a big part of my life’s work go to just anyone so in Robin, Josh and the rest of the team at Round Hill I know I’ve found people who will respect and appreciate my music.”

Billy Duffy

Billy Duffy added: “I always prefer to work with people rather than institutions.

“I wasn’t going to let a big part of my life’s work go to just anyone so in Robin, Josh and the rest of the team at Round Hill I know I’ve found people who will respect and appreciate my music.”

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In November Round Hill announced that it closed its third private fund, Round Hill Music Royalty Fund III, with total equity commitments of $291m.

(Subsequent to that announcement, Round Hill confirmed in mid-December that its separate, UK-listed fund – Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Ltd – had raised an additional $46.1m, enabling it to buy the tranche of copyrights its had earmarked in its initial prospectus.)Music Business Worldwide