3 Surprising Facts About The Cure’s Robert Smith

You know The Cure’s Robert Smith for his band’s alternative rock anthems “Boys Don’t Cry”, “Just Like Heaven”, “Lovesong”, and many others. Equally identifiable is the frontman’s iconic and perfectly disheveled look: black, unkempt hair, crooked lipstick, and general goth couture. For my fellow Cure nerds, here are three facts about Smith that may surprise you.

He Studied Classical Guitar as a Child

You might not think that a touchstone of goth and post-punk would have classical music origins. However, Smith told Guitar Player in 1992, “I started on classical guitar, actually. I had lessons from age nine with a student of John Williams, a really excellent guitarist. My sister was a piano prodigy, so sibling rivalry made me take up guitar because she couldn’t get her fingers around the neck. I learned a lot, but got to the point where I was losing the sense of fun. I wish I’d stuck with it. I still read music, but it takes me too long to work through a piece.”

Modest Gear

If you are a guitarist, you’ve likely seen endless videos of Rig Rundowns in your social media feed. In these videos, famous guitarists offer a glimpse of expansive guitar rigs, and perhaps a few of you have experienced gear envy. But Smith, on the other hand, sticks to a modest rig of pedals—most of which can be found used for less than $100. It proves you don’t need fancy equipment to be a rock legend. Though you do need the skills to write a masterpiece like Disintegration.

A Real-Life Nightmare

Smith’s Uncle Robert used to terrify the singer as a child with creepy bedtime stories. One of Uncle Robert’s inventions was called the Spiderman. The creature, according to the tale, devoured children. But Uncle Robert took things a little too far when, one night, he climbed through his nephew’s bedroom window to scare the boy. The Spiderman’s story ended there. But Smith’s fear of spiders and the dark continued. See “Lullaby”.

On candy-stripe legs, the Spiderman comes,
Softly through the shadow of the evening sun.
Stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead,
Looking for the victim shivering in bed.

Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images