The Cure

The Cure are an English alternative rock group from Crawley, United Kingdom. They form in 1976 and remain active from 1977 to the present. The band is closely associated with post-punk, new wave, gothic rock and related strands of alternative music, including dance-rock, indie rock and jangle pop.

Origins and early development

The group forms in Crawley by Robert Smith, who sings and plays guitar, and Lol Tolhurst, who plays drums. Smith is the only constant member in the band’s history. Early on, the band establishes itself through its debut album Three Imaginary Boys and a run of singles that place it among the leading names in the UK post-punk and new wave scenes.

With Seventeen Seconds, the band develops a darker, more spacious sound that becomes important to the emergence of gothic rock. This direction continues on Faith and Pornography.

Style and commercial peak

After Pornography, Smith brings in more melodic and pop-oriented elements, expanding the group’s audience. The Cure reach their widest mainstream success with Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Disintegration and Wish. These albums are recorded with guitarist Porl Thompson and drummer Boris Williams, and they produce some of the band’s best-known songs.

Simon Gallup appears on all but two of the band’s studio albums. Over the years, the group also includes Michael Dempsey, Matthieu Hartley, Andy Anderson, Phil Thornalley, Roger O’Donnell, Perry Bamonte and Jason Cooper. The listed current lineup in the input also includes Reeves Gabrels.

Recordings and recognition

The Cure release 14 studio albums, two EPs and more than 40 singles, with global sales of more than 30 million records. Their studio albums include The Top, The Head on the Door, Wild Mood Swings, Bloodflowers, The Cure, 4:13 Dream and Songs of a Lost World.

Songs of a Lost World is their 14th studio album and their first album of entirely new material in 16 years. It reaches number one in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it becomes their first chart-topping album since 1992.

The Cure are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.