Early years (1959–1975)

Tolhurst was born in Horley, in the county of Surrey, England, the fifth of six children of 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 culminated in the formation of the Cure.

The Cure and other artists (1976–1989)

Tolhurst was one of the co-founders of English rock band the Cure, and was the band's drummer from 1976, playing on the albums Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography as well as contributing to music and lyrics and occasionally playing keyboards. After the Pornography tour in 1982, he stopped drumming and became the band's full-time keyboardist - in this capacity, he contributed to the singles compiled on Japanese Whispers, to several tracks on The Top, and to the subsequent Cure albums The Head on the Door and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. The latter album saw a smaller contribution by Tolhurst due to his growing alcoholism.

In addition to his involvement with the Cure, Tolhurst produced the first two single releases Shantell and The Secret Sea by the English post-punk band And Also the Trees, which were released in 1983 and 1984. Also, their 1984 debut album And Also The Trees was produced by him.

In 1989, at the end of the recording of the Cure's eighth studio album, Disintegration, Tolhurst was asked to leave the band by Robert Smith due to alcohol and narcotic use adversely affecting his professional reliability. Despite receiving a credit for "other instrument" on Disintegration, the other members of the band have said that Tolhurst did not play on the album.^[2]

After the Cure (1990–2010)

Tolhurst in 2008

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 released only one full-length album at the time called Inside in 1993. He said several years later that he had recorded a second album with this band, but the album, entitled Closer, would not be released until 2014, a year after Biddles' death. In 1991, Tolhurst's first son was born in London, poet and musician Gray Andrew Tolhurst. In 1994, Tolhurst sued Robert Smith and Fiction Records over royalty payments, also claiming joint ownership, with Smith, of the name the Cure. He eventually lost after a long legal battle.^[3]

In the early 2000s, Tolhurst and his second wife, Cindy Levinson, formed a band called Levinhurst. A few months before the release of their debut album, Tolhurst said in an interview that he had reconciled with Robert Smith and that the two were friends again.^[4] Shortly afterward, Levinhurst released their debut album, Perfect Life, in 2004. Since then, they have released an EP called The Grey featuring a cover of the Cure's "All Cats are Grey"—for which he claimed credit for writing the lyrics^[5]—and two other songs. Their second album, House by the Sea, was released in April 2007. Their third album, called Blue Star and featuring original Cure bassist Michael Dempsey, was released in the U.S. in June 2009 and worldwide in February 2010. Tolhurst also composed music for the film 9,000 Needles, a documentary that won Best Documentary at the 2010 Phoenix Film Festival. The second part of the European tour, "Blue Star Over Europe", occurred in October 2010, followed by a South and North American tour in early 2011.

Reunion shows with the Cure (2011)

In 2010, The Guardian published an article with a headline reading "The Cure's original drummer asks to rejoin band."^[6] However, Tolhurst called the article "a little misleading", saying:

I have not asked RS to rejoin the Cure! I have my thing, he has his. I just thought it might be fun to play the old songs together again especially as Michael and I had a great time playing the TIB songs this March in Europe.^[7]

In 2011, it was announced that Tolhurst would return to performing with the Cure for the first time in 22 years when the band performed their first three albums—Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds and Faith in their entirety at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Tolhurst then performed with the Cure for seven more shows in London, New York and Los Angeles later that same year.^[8]

Post-reunion shows (2011–2022)

Tolhurst published his memoir in 2016, Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys.^[9] He tells of his time with the band between 1976 and 1989. Tolhurst, who has known Robert Smith since his childhood, says the band were like his family.^[10][8] Tolhurst undertook an extensive book tour, beginning in the United Kingdom and finishing in the U.S. In 2018, Tolhurst featured in an episode of the BBC Radio 4 series Soul Music, in which he discussed the history of the song "Boys Don't Cry".^[11]

Los Angeles (2021–present)

In October 2021, Tolhurst and Budgie started a podcast called Curious Creatures, in which they explore "post punk’s enduring legacy and contemporary relevance" along with invited guests.^[12] The second season started in March 2022: a new episode is uploaded every week on streaming platforms.^[12]

Tolhurst’s second book, Goth: a History was published September 21st 2023. The text explores the philosophical underpinnings of what Tolhurst deems “the last true alternative outsider subculture.” beginning with gothic literature and the French existentialists, the book covers the movement’s progenitors: musicians such as The Doors, Suicide, Nico, David Bowie; goth icons including Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie and the Banshees; the goth scene through famed goth clubs like the Batcave in London, which were also havens for the LGBTQ+ community; and a look at modern goth groups such as Nine Inch Nails, the Belarusian post-punks Molchat Doma and beyond.^[13]

On 24 July 2023, Tolhurst, Budgie, and Jacknife Lee announced their album Los Angeles, which was released on 3 November by PIAS Recordings.^[14] They recorded it with guest musicians and singers including LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, the Edge, Isaac Brock and Bobby Gillespie.^[15]