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📅 1977 🌍 Crawley, England 🎵 Alternative Rock

The Cure are an English rock band from Crawley, formed in 1976 by Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). What began as a post-punk band among school friends quickly developed into something far greater. Their debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979) was released on Chris Parry’s Fiction Records, and with the arrival of bassist Simon Gallup on Seventeen Seconds (1980) the band began shaping their dark, atmospheric identity. The subsequent albums Faith (1981) and Pornography (1982) helped define gothic rock as a genre, before Smith surprised everyone by turning toward pop with singles like “Let’s Go to Bed” and “The Lovecats.” The Head on the Door (1985) gave them the breakthrough hits “Inbetween Days” and “Close to Me,” Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987) delivered “Just Like Heaven,” and then came the masterpiece Disintegration (1989) – a record of dark, sweeping grandeur that sold over three million copies and is considered among the greatest rock albums of all time. Wish (1992) topped the UK chart and reached number two in the US with hits like “Friday I’m in Love.” In total, The Cure have sold over 30 million records worldwide. After 4:13 Dream (2008), silence fell – for 16 years. In 2019, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and then, on 1 November 2024, came Songs of a Lost World. The album received what Metacritic describes as “universal acclaim” with a score of 93 out of 100, and became the band’s first UK number one since Wish 32 years earlier. On 1 February 2026, The Cure won their first ever Grammy Awards – Best Alternative Music Album for Songs of a Lost World and Best Alternative Music Performance for “Alone” – after half a century as a band. The band was not present at the ceremony; they were in England attending the funeral of guitarist and keyboardist Perry Bamonte, who died in December 2025, aged 65. The Cure are a band that have covered the entire emotional spectrum – from the most unbearable darkness to the most effortless pop joy – and done it with a rare artistic integrity. Robert Smith is the only member who has been there throughout, but it is the interplay with Gallup, O’Donnell, Cooper, and Gabrels that makes up the band today. The summer of 2026 brings a string of European festival appearances and major outdoor shows, and a “companion piece” album to Songs of a Lost World has been announced. Their style spans gothic rock and post-punk through dreamy guitar pop to symphonic melancholy – always with Smith’s unmistakable voice and an emotional honesty that has inspired generations of artists.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​