The Cure

Among the many ensembles that surfaced right after punk's explosion near the close of the 1970s, the Cure has proven one of the most lasting and widely embraced. Robert Smith has steered the group through countless lineups while serving as guitarist and lead vocalist. Early recognition came largely from their deliberate, somber compositions and Smith's dramatically dark persona, an image that sometimes obscured the breadth of their sonic range. They began with sharp, angular pop tracks before gradually shifting toward denser, more layered arrangements. Though instrumental in shaping goth rock's foundations, the band had already adopted a smoother, more reflective style—still frequently somber—by the mid-1980s when the genre achieved broader popularity. By the decade's end they had entered the commercial mainstream across Britain, the United States, and portions of Europe alike. Melody and synth-driven pop took center stage on the 1985 album The Head on the Door, setting the stage for the creative summit represented by the deeply anguished yet exquisite 1989 masterpiece Disintegration; their initial British number-one album then arrived with 1992's Wish. Fresh studio material emerged less often as the years progressed, yet the Cure sustained strong live appeal well into the 2000s and afterward, their sound echoed by numerous later acts across the new millennium, many unrelated to goth. In 2024 they ended a sixteen-year recording silence with Songs of a Lost World, their fourteenth studio album and the first since 4:13 Dream from 2008.

School friends Robert Smith on vocals and guitar, Michael Dempsey on bass, and Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst on drums formed the group in 1976 under the original name the Easy Cure. Their initial focus rested on tense, shadowy guitar pop paired with literary-tinged lyrics, illustrated by the Albert Camus-inspired "Killing an Arab." A demo tape containing that track reached Chris Parry, then an A&R executive at Polydor Records, at which point the band had already shortened its name to the Cure. Impressed, Parry facilitated the song's release on the independent Small Wonder label in December 1978. Early in 1979 he departed Polydor to establish Fiction Records, signing the Cure among his first acts; "Killing an Arab" was reissued that February, after which the band undertook its debut English tour.

Three Imaginary Boys, the Cure's first album, appeared in May 1979 and earned favorable notices from the British music press. Later that year the non-album singles "Boys Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train" followed. The same year brought a major tour supporting Siouxsie and the Banshees; when guitarist John McKay departed mid-tour, Robert Smith filled the role. Over the subsequent decade Smith would often work with Banshees members. At the close of 1979 the Cure issued the single "I'm a Cult Hero" credited to the Cult Heroes. Shortly afterward Dempsey exited to join the Associates and was replaced on bass by Simon Gallup at the start of 1980. Keyboardist Mathieu Hartley also joined, and the band completed its second album, Seventeen Seconds, released in spring 1980. The keyboard addition broadened their palette toward experimental textures and slower, melancholic pieces, yet they retained pop sensibility, as heard in the first U.K. hit "A Forest," which reached number 31. After the album's release the Cure began a world tour; once the Australian dates concluded, Hartley departed and the remaining members continued as a trio. Their third album, Faith, arrived in 1981 and peaked at number 14, yielding the modest single "Primary." The fourth album, the brooding and inward-looking Pornography, followed in 1982, expanding their devoted following and entering the U.K. Top Ten. After the subsequent tour Gallup left, prompting Tolhurst to switch from drums to keyboards. Late in 1982 the group released the dance-inflected single "Let's Go to Bed."

Early 1983 found Smith largely occupied with Siouxsie and the Banshees, contributing to the album Hyaena and joining their tour as guitarist. That year he also formed the Glove with Banshees bassist Steve Severin; the project yielded only the album Blue Sunshine. By late summer 1983 a refreshed Cure lineup—Smith, Tolhurst, drummer Andy Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley—had formed and recorded the upbeat single "The Lovecats." Issued in autumn 1983, the track became their biggest hit to that point, climbing to number seven in the U.K. The same configuration released The Top in 1984. Despite the pop-leaning number 14 single "The Caterpillar," the album largely revisited the darker atmospheres of Pornography. During the world tour supporting it, Anderson was dismissed. Early in 1985, after the tour ended, Thornalley also departed. The Cure rebuilt with drummer Boris Williams and guitarist Porl Thompson while welcoming Gallup's return on bass. Later that year they issued their sixth album, The Head on the Door. Its focused, pop-oriented approach propelled the record into the U.K. Top Ten and to number 59 in the U.S., marking the band's first appearance on the American Hot 100. Both "In Between Days" and "Close to Me," drawn from the album, achieved substantial U.K. success and notable college-radio traction stateside.

Building on that breakthrough, the Cure followed in 1986 with the singles compilation Standing on a Beach: The Singles. It reached number four in Britain and, more significantly, established the band as a substantial cult presence in America, peaking at number 48 and earning gold certification within a year. That foundation prepared the way for the 1987 double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Eclectic yet commercially successful, it generated four U.K. hits—"Why Can't I Be You," "Catch," "Just Like Heaven," and "Hot Hot Hot!!!"—plus the group's first American Top 40 entry with "Just Like Heaven." Following the supporting tour, activity paused before Tolhurst was dismissed in early 1988 ahead of new recording; relations with the rest of the band had deteriorated beyond repair. Tolhurst later filed suit asserting greater involvement and seeking increased royalties.

Former Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell replaced Tolhurst, and the Cure recorded their eighth album, Disintegration. Released in spring 1989, it proved even more somber than its predecessor yet achieved immediate success, reaching number three in the U.K. and number 14 in the U.S. while spawning multiple hits. "Lullaby" became their biggest British single that spring, peaking at number five; later "Love Song" climbed to number two in America. The ensuing tour saw the Cure perform in stadiums across both countries. In autumn 1990 they issued Mixed Up, a remix collection featuring the new track "Never Enough." After the Disintegration dates, O'Donnell departed and roadie Perry Bamonte joined. Spring 1992 brought Wish. Like its predecessor, it entered the British charts at number one and the American charts at number two, spawning the singles "High" and "Friday I'm in Love." Another global tour followed, with one Detroit performance documented on the film Show and the albums Show and Paris, all released in 1993.

Porl Thompson exited in 1993 to work with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. O'Donnell returned on keyboards while Bamonte shifted to guitar. Most of 1993 and early 1994 were consumed by Tolhurst's ongoing lawsuit claiming co-ownership of the band name and seeking revised royalties; a settlement favoring the Cure arrived in autumn 1994. Drummer Boris Williams departed just as recording for the next album began. Jason Cooper was recruited through advertisements in the British music press and joined by spring 1995. Throughout that year the Cure recorded their tenth studio album, pausing for select European festival appearances. Titled Wild Mood Swings, the record appeared in spring 1996, preceded by the single "The 13th."

Blending pop songs with darker passages that matched its title, Wild Mood Swings met with mixed critical and commercial response, tempering but not erasing the momentum from Wish. Galore, a second singles collection covering material since Standing on a Beach, arrived in 1997 and included the new song "Wrong Number." The Cure remained relatively quiet for several years—contributing a track to the X-Files soundtrack and featuring Robert Smith in a notable South Park episode—before returning in 2000 with Bloodflowers, their final original album for Fiction. Conceived as the concluding chapter of a gothic trilogy reaching back through Disintegration to Pornography, it earned strong reviews, solid sales, and a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. The following year the band fulfilled its Fiction contract with the retrospective Greatest Hits, accompanied by a DVD of popular videos. In 2002 they toured extensively, culminating in a three-night Berlin stand during which each album of the "goth trilogy" was performed on a separate evening; the event was captured on the home-video release Trilogy.

An international agreement with Geffen Records was signed in 2003. The following year the group launched an extensive reissue program beginning with the rarities box set Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years), soon followed by expanded double-disc editions of early albums. Also in 2004 they released their first Geffen album, the self-titled The Cure, recorded live in the studio. Heavier yet not necessarily more aggressive—and no gloomier than Bloodflowers—the set was partly aimed at younger listeners who knew the band through its influence on newer groups, several of which opened the supporting tour. Another lineup shift occurred in 2005 when Bamonte and O'Donnell departed and Porl Thompson returned for a third tenure. The keyboard-free configuration debuted that year as headliners at the Live 8 Paris benefit, then performed on the summer festival circuit, with highlights preserved on the 2006 DVD Festival 2005. Festival appearances continued over the next two years, followed by a more extensive European tour in early 2008 as work on the thirteenth album concluded. Originally planned as a double album, the material was divided; the lighter, poppier half appeared first as 4:13 Dream in October 2008.

After a three-year hiatus the group resumed live activity with the "Reflections" tour, beginning in Australia and marking Lol Tolhurst's return after roughly twenty-two years; they performed their first three albums—Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, and Faith—in full. A 150-minute headline set at 2011's Bestival on the Isle of Wight was recorded and released that year. Touring persisted through 2012 and 2013 with festival dates across Europe and North America plus headline shows in Latin America. Early in 2014 Robert Smith announced plans to release the follow-up to 4:13 Dream later that year and to extend the full-album performance series to The Top, The Head on the Door, and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Throughout the 2010s live work and festival appearances took precedence over new recordings, although occasional studio sessions occurred. More than a decade elapsed without a fresh studio album after 2008's 4:13 Dream, yet the Cure issued several live documents and other archival releases, including 2018's Torn Down: Mixed Up Extras 2018 (a sequel to the 1990 remix album), the expansive 2019 multimedia concert package 40 Live (Curætion-25 + Anniversary), and a deluxe thirtieth-anniversary edition of Wish in 2022 containing previously unreleased demos and live material from the album's era.

November 2024 finally brought the long-developed fourteenth studio album Songs of a Lost World. Primarily tracked in 2019 with further work continuing through 2022, its release was postponed by touring commitments. Reeves Gabrels, who joined in 2012, appeared on his first Cure album. All eight tracks were written and arranged solely by Robert Smith, a circumstance that had occurred only once previously, with 1985's The Head on the Door.