Robert Smith (musician)

Robert James Smith (born April 21, 1959), a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, is the lead singer and driving force behind English post-punk/gothic rock band The Cure since its founding in 1976.

Overview

: See also the history of The Cure

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Smith has written or co-written the bulk of The Cure's music and lyrics in a career spanning 25 years. He has also been involved in other musical projects, including a stint with Siouxsie & the Banshees and his side-project with Steven Severin called The Glove. He has also contributed vocals to a number of independent projects and performances.

Related Topics:
Siouxsie & the Banshees - Side-project - Steven Severin - The Glove

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Robert Smith is instantly recognizable for his image, which includes deliberately smeared red lipstick and messy black hair that some have compared to a large spider. Smith's image has contributed to the frequent classification of The Cure as a goth band, a moniker Smith rejects. Smith is also known for his distinctive wavering singing style.

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Smith's lyrics are frequently poetic and as frequently inscrutable. Smith has

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stated that they are often the product of some "altered state," such as drugs or sleep.

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Smith met Mary Poole in school when he was 14 years old. Smith explains that his class was asked to choose partners for an activity. He mustered the courage to ask Mary and, as he says, got lucky. They have been together since and were married in 1988. The song "Love Song" was written as a wedding present for Mary. They have agreed to remain childless.

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In October 2004, he stood in as one of three guest presenters for John Peel on BBC Radio 1, a week before the DJ's untimely death.

Related Topics:
2004 - John Peel - BBC - Radio 1

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"Just Like Heaven" is reportedly Smith's favorite pop song that The Cure has produced and easily one of the public's most popular in which he details a lost love: " found myself alone alone alone above the raging sea / that stole the only girl I loved / and drowned her deep inside of me. "

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Public opinion has often been that, according to the music he writes, Robert Smith must be a deeply depressed soul. However, this quote disputes that sentiment:

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: " At the time we wrote Disintegration...it's just about what I was doing really, how I felt. But I'm not like that all the time. That's the difficulty of writing songs that are a bit depressing. People think you're like that all the time, but I don't think that. I just usually write when I'm depressed." -Robert Smith in a 1989 interview http://imaginaryboys.altervista.org/english/cure/articles/tib_holyhour.htm

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