Multi-instrumentalist and visual artist, born 8 November 1957, Wimbledon, south London.

Thompson first collaborated with [[artist:73783]] as a member of the band known as Malice (1976) and later Easy Cure (1977–78). Following Thompson's departure in April 1978, the group was renamed [[artist:28972]]. The first Cure-related release to feature Thompson was the 1979 [[artist:313293]] single [m=43984]. Thompson rejoined The Cure in 1984, playing guitar, saxophone and keyboards, and remained a member until 1993. During this period the band's popularity steadily increased, and they released the studio albums [m=21069] (1984), [m=22309] (1985), [m=22500] (1987), [m=31755] (their biggest-selling album) (1989), and [m=32019] (1992).

In 1991 Thompson contributed dulcimer to [[artist:517054]]'s [m=366207] album, which also featured former Cure drummer [[artist:Boris Williams]]. In 1994 he played on [m=90611], and toured with Page and Plant in 1995–96. He also contributed to [[artist:27458]]'s project [[artist:Babacar (2)]].

Thompson joined The Cure for a third time in 2005, and contributed to the studio album [m=32255] (2008). Following his departure in 2011, he legally changed his Christian name to Pearl. Since then he has worked mainly as a visual artist.

As half of [[artist:1831977]] (with designer [[artist:2044271]]), Thompson also created many of The Cure's record covers, from 1983 to 1992, and again from 2004 to 2008.

He married Robert Smith's sister, [[artist:1144914]], in 1990. They divorced in the late 2000s. Since 2014 he has been married to Dali'esque Thompson.