Andy Anderson, former drummer with the Cure, dies at 68

Veteran drummer Andy Anderson, who recorded and performed with the Cure and went on to do session work with Iggy Pop, Peter Gabriel and others, has died after battling cancer. He was 68.

Anderson announced on Facebook last week that he was battling Stage 4 cancer, saying, “There is no way of returning back from that.”

His death was confirmed Tuesday night by his former bandmate in the Cure, Lol Tolhurst. He did not say when or where he died.

“Andy Anderson was a true gentleman and a great musician with a wicked sense of humor which he kept until the end, a testament to his beautiful spirit on the last journey,” Tolhurst wrote. “We are blessed to have known him.”

Anderson, who was born in London in 1951, joined the Cure in 1983, seven years after the group was formed. He was in the studio when the Cure recorded “Love Cats,” the group’s first major hit.

In his Facebook announcement this month, Anderson wrote frankly about the disease he was fighting and said cancer was “totally covering” the inside of his body.

“No Boo Hooing, here, just be positive, for me it’s just another life Experience and Hurdle, that one has to make yet another Choice in life, be cool, I most definitely am and positive about the situation,” Anderson wrote.

Anderson joined the Cure after Tulhurst — an original member of the group — moved over to keyboards.

Anderson went on to have a successful career as a studio musician and had recently worked as a solo artist.

Sblendorio writes for the New York Daily News