Cults is an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2010. The band first rose to prominence upon releasing their debut extended play, Cults 7" (2010), on their Bandcamp page.^[1] They subsequently signed to English singer Lily Allen's record label In the Name Of, an imprint of Sony Music to release their eponymous debut album (2011). A song from the album, "Bad Things" was sampled by American rapper J. Cole for his 2013 single "She Knows", on which they were credited as featured artists.^[2]

Cults formed in 2010 while guitarist Brian Oblivion (real name Ryan Mattos) and singer Madeline Follin, both from San Diego, were students in New York City.^[3] Oblivion went to NYU to study documentary cinema, while Follin went to The New School.^[1] Madeline had previously recorded with punk band Youth Gone Mad on the album, Touching Cloth. Cults released an EP on Forrest Family Records, Cults 7", with the track "Go Outside" recorded by Paul Kostabi at Thunderdome Studios,^[4] and the album earned the title of "Best New Music" by Pitchfork Media.^[5] They toured supporting the Richie Follin's Band with overlapping members for six months before signing to ITNO/Sony. Their song "Go Outside" had a video made for it which starred Emma Roberts and Dave Franco. Another video featured the band inter-cut with footage of Jim Jones and Jonestown.^[6]

Their self-titled debut album, Cults, was released on June 7, 2011, by Columbia Records imprint In the Name Of run by Lily Allen.^[7] The album received generally positive reviews,^[8][9] and a second "Best New Music" from Pitchfork was earned for the track "Abducted".^[10]

In 2011 Cults collaborated with the group Superhuman Happiness on a version of the track "Um Canto De Afoxé para o Bloco Do Ilê" for the Red Hot Organisation's most recent charity album Red Hot+Rio 2. The album is a follow-up to the 1996 Red Hot + Rio. Proceeds from sales were donated toward causes raising awareness of AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. The band was chosen to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival curated by ATP & Portishead in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey,^[11] and also by Battles to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.^[12]

In early 2012 Cults played the Australasian music festival Laneways. In an interview with 3news^[13] they said people could expect a more "aggressive sound" with a lot of changes being made to songs as a five-piece band.

In an interview with the magazine Coup De Main,^[14] Madeline Follin was quoted saying that "You Know What I Mean" is her favorite song on their self-titled debut album.

In 2013 they were featured alongside Amber Coffman on J. Cole's Born Sinner album which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The song later peaked at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Also in 2013, the band recorded their second album, Static, in the aftermath of the duo's breakup. Reviews were generally favorable while the song "I Can Hardly Make You Mine" was used in the 2013 reboot of Carrie

In 2016, Madeline Follin collaborated with her brother Richie James Follin for a side-chick called Follin. Their single "Roxy" was released online on February 23 of that year.

On October 6, 2017, the band released their third album, Offering.

In 2019 the song "You Know What I Mean" was featured as the outro to episode 6 of Netflix's Russian Doll.

On September 18, 2020, the band released their fourth album, Host.^[15]

On August 17, 2021, the single "Always Forever" was certified gold by the RIAA and later was certified platinum on July 18, 2022.^[16]

• Brian Oblivion – vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion
• Madeline Follin – vocals

• Cory Stier - drums
• Max Kamins - bass guitar
• Nathan Aguilar – bass guitar (past)
• Marc Deriso – drums
• Richie Follin – guitar (past)
• Gabriel Rodriguez – aux, guitar (past)
• Loren Humphrey - drums