The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine" and "Fire Woman".

The band fuses a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism of The Doors [and] the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford during 1981, the band has had various line-ups, and the longest-serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's two songwriters.

After moving to London, the band released the album Love in 1985, which charted at #4 in the United Kingdom, and which included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain".