Andrew Eldritch

Andrew Eldritch (born Andrew William Harvey Taylor, 15 May 1959) is the English frontman, singer, songwriter and only remaining original member of The Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post-punk scene, transformed into a gothic rock band and, in later years, flirted with hard rock.

Formerly a drummer, Eldritch also programs the tracks for The Sisters of Mercy’s drum machine (known as “Doktor Avalanche”) and plays guitars and keyboards in its studio recordings but uses live shows to focus solely on his vocal performance. He is well known for his deep distinctive bass-baritone voice. He has also established the record label Merciful Release. In addition to The Sisters of Mercy, in 1986 Andrew Eldritch established a side-project The Sisterhood (to keep former band members from using the name) which was quickly abandoned in favour of continuing working under The Sisters of Mercy.

Though Andrew Eldritch has been called the “Godfather of Goth” for inspiring and defining the gothic scene musically and aesthetically, he has publicly rejected associations with the Goth subculture. He describes The Sisters of Mercy as humanist, modernist, and implies he wants nothing to do with Goth, stating:

It’s disappointing that so many people have in all seriousness adopted just one of our many one-week-of-stupid-clothes benders… I’m constantly confronted by representatives of popular culture who are far more goth than we, yet I have only to wear black socks to be stigmatised as the demon overlord.