timeline

The Cure

A Crawley band led by Robert Smith that moved from lean post-punk through a bleak trilogy to pop singles and the huge, slow Disintegration, and in 2024 returned to number one in Britain.

Origin
Crawley, England
Years active
1976-present
Genres
post-punk, gothic rock, new wave, alternative rock
Labels
Fiction, Polydor, Elektra, Geffen, Capitol
Also known as
Malice, Easy Cure

Crawley

The group began in Crawley in 1976, formed by Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst under the name Malice. It became Easy Cure in 1977 and The Cure in April 1978. Smith took over as singer in September 1977 after Peter O'Toole left. A contract with Ariola-Hansa, signed in May 1977, dissolved in March 1978 after the band refused to record cover versions, and the label would not release "Killing an Arab". Chris Parry's new label Fiction signed them in September 1978, and that song became their debut single in December.

Three Imaginary Boys followed in May 1979 and reached number 44 in Britain, with Parry and Mike Hedges producing. The record company chose its songs, running order and cover without Smith's consent, and Smith said in 1987 that he found it very superficial. Boys Don't Cry came out as a single that June. The band supported Siouxsie and the Banshees in the autumn, and Smith also played guitar for the Banshees after John McKay quit. In October 1979 Dempsey left, and Simon Gallup and Matthieu Hartley joined.

The dark trilogy

Seventeen Seconds (1980) was recorded and mixed in seven days in January on a budget of two to three thousand pounds. It brought the band their first UK Top 40 hit in A Forest, and Smith called it the most personal record they had made. Faith followed in 1981, and in 1982 came Pornography, made amid heavy drinking and drug use. Smith has said he saw two choices, giving in completely or making a record of it, and he expected to end the band. After the Fourteen Explicit Moments tour Gallup left following a fight with Smith. Smith joined the Banshees full time in November 1982.

Smith later grouped Pornography and Disintegration with Bloodflowers as a trilogy, and the band gave the Trilogy concerts at the Tempodrom in Berlin in November 2002. Rejecting the goth label for the band, he said in 2006 that they were not categorisable.

Pop and Disintegration

Between late 1982 and 1983 the Cure released the pop singles "Let's Go to Bed", "The Walk" and "The Love Cats", which reached number seven in Britain. The Head on the Door (1985) went to number seven and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) to number six, carrying Just Like Heaven, their first US Top 40 single.

Smith was approaching thirty when he began Disintegration, and he aimed to recreate the atmosphere of Pornography. Tolhurst was dismissed in February 1989, and the album came out in May. It reached number three in Britain and twelve in the United States. Its single Lovesong reached number two on the US Hot 100. The Prayer Tour filled Giants Stadium with 44,000 people. In 1991 the band won the Brit Award for Best British Group, and Wish (1992) went to number one in Britain and number two in the United States, with Friday I'm in Love.

Later years

Wild Mood Swings arrived in 1996, Bloodflowers in 2000, a self-titled album on Geffen in 2004 and 4:13 Dream in 2008. O'Donnell and Bamonte were dismissed in May 2005, and O'Donnell returned in 2011. Gabrels joined in 2012. The band curated the Meltdown festival in 2018 and played Hyde Park for their fortieth anniversary on 7 July that year. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 by Trent Reznor.

After the Shows of a Lost World tour opened in Riga in October 2022, Alone appeared in September 2024 and Songs of a Lost World followed on 1 November, their first new material in sixteen years. It reached number one in Britain, their first since Wish, and won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in February 2026, the band's first Grammys. Smith suggested in October 2024 that he might retire in 2029.

Members

Records

Songs

Siouxsie and the Banshees, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Interpol

Where to go next

Official

  • The Cure The band's own site, with news and a shop.

Reference

Discography and data

Writing and criticism

Live performance archives

Fan sites and communities

Sources

  1. The Cure, Wikipedia
  2. The Cure, MusicBrainz
  3. The Cure, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
  4. The Cure song statistics, setlist.fm
  5. Just like heaven: the Cure's 20 greatest songs, ranked, The Guardian (2024-10-24)
  6. The Cure score first UK No 1 album in 32 years, The Guardian (2024-11-08)