Robert Smith

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Robert James Smith (born 21 April 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, singer, and record producer.

He is the lead singer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, primary songwriter, and the only remaining member of the Cure, which he co-founded in 1976.

He served as the lead guitarist for Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1982 to 1984, and was a member of the Glove, a short-lived group.

He is best known for his distinctive voice, guitar-playing style, and stage appearance, the latter two of which were influential on the 1980s goth subculture.

Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cure in 2019.

Early life

Robert James Smith was born in Blackpool on April 21, 1959, the third of Rita Mary (née Emmott) and James Alexander Smith's fourth child. He came from a musical family; his father performed; and his mother played the piano. He was raised as a Catholic but later became an atheist. His family migrated to Horley, where he attended St Francis' Primary School, when he was three years old. When he was six, his family moved to Crawley, where he attended St Francis' Junior School. He attended Notre Dame Middle School from 1970 to 1972, as well as St Wilfrid's Comprehensive School from 1972 to 1977. As children, he and his younger sister Janet were given piano lessons. "Janet] was a piano prodigy, and sibling rivalry made me play guitar because she couldn't get her fingers around the neck," Smith said. Richard, who is 13 years older, told Chris Heath of Smash Hits that from about 1966 (when Smith was seven years old), his brother Richard, who is 13 years older, taught him "a few basic chords" on guitar.

Smith began taking classical guitar lessons from the age of nine with a John Williams protégé, who he described as "a very good guitarist." "I learned a lot, but got to the point where I was losing the joy of being silly," he wrote. I wish I'd stuck with it." His guitar teacher was "horrified" by his playing, according to him. He dropped formal education and began teaching himself to play by ear, listening to his older brother's album collection. He was 13 or 14 when he became more serious about rock music and "started to play and learn quickly." He didn't have a guitar himself and had been borrowing his brother's, so his brother gave him the guitar for Christmas. "I'd commandeered it anyway," Smith said of the gift, "whether he was officially giving it to me at Christmas or not." Jeff Apter, a rock biographer, maintains that Smith's guitar was given to him for Christmas 1972 and compares it to Smith's "Top 20" guitar, which was later used on many of The Cure's older recordings. Smith had been quoted in several previous publications as saying that he bought the guitar himself in 1978.

Smith referred to Notre Dame Middle School as a "very free-thinking institution" with an experimental approach, a right he denied. On one occasion, he said he wore a black velvet dress to school and kept it on the whole day because "the teachers just thought, 'oh, this is a phase he's going to, he's got some personality trouble, let's help him with it." "four other boys" beat him up after school, according to Smith, although Jeff Apter notes that Smith has given many conflicting interpretations of the tale. Smith made little attempt at Notre Dame, but enough to pass examinations, and Smith quotes Smith as saying, "If you were crafty enough, you might convince the teachers you were special: I did virtually nothing for three years." According to reports, St Wilfrid's was tighter than Notre Dame. Smith and his school classmates obtained their O Levels in 1975, but only he and Michael Dempsey continued to study sixth form at St Wilfrid's from 1976 to 1977.

Smith later explained that he was barred from St Wilfrid's as an "unwanted influence" after his band Malice's second live performance shortly before Christmas 1976, which was reported to have sparked a riot, but they never admitted that I was involved [in 1977] but they never said I was there [in 1977] but they never said that I was there [in 1977] but I failed biology miserably, scraped through French, ending in a ' "I spent eight or nine months on social security before deciding that they should withdraw my money, so I thought, 'Now's the time to speak out and see what people think.' According to Dave Bowler and Bryan Dray, biographers of The Cure, the school fired former Malice co-founder Marc Ceccagno, as well as Smith, whose current band Amulet appeared at the December school parade. Smith has given conflicting accounts of his suspected dismissal, some saying he was suspended and that it was because he did not get along with the school headmaster, and on another occasion, he was banned because of his "attitude towards religion was considered inappropriate."

Personal life

Smith married Mary Theresa Poole (born 3 October 1958), who was in drama class at St Wilfrid's when he was 14 years old. They have no children. Smith said he was against having children because he not only dislikes being born but refuses to impose life on another. Smith adds that he also "does not feel responsible enough to bring a child into the world." Smith and Poole have 25 nieces and nephews.

Smith later revealed that early in his musical career, Mary had not always expressed her excitement and excitement for The Cure's future, which was a major motivator in his assurance that the band was successful. According to the Daily Express, Mary used to be a model and worked as a nurse with intellectually disabled children, but as The Cure became more financially stable in the mid-1980s, Mary resigned from her day job so that the couple no longer had to spend so much time apart.

Smith told The Face that he had once left a video camera running in their house "and then you forget that it's on and that the amount of garbage we say to each other is alarming." It's similar to listening to mental people... I feel more comfortable in a company with people who are emotionally disturbed because you're always on alert and wondering what they're going to do next." Mary "used to dress as a witch to scare little children," she said, that she sometimes dressed up as Robert Smith in his pyjamas, and that he would never take them home "because I never know who is going to answer the door."

"Mary's Manor Mad Chart" was pinned to the wall by the Cure's 1991 to 1992 collection of "in order of chaos" "in order of chaos." Since a woman named Louise who worked in the kitchen, Mary came in second place. "We all voted," Smith said, "and we had an award night." It was very moving."

Rita Smith said his mother Rita "wasn't supposed to have me," which was the reason for the significant age difference between him and his two older siblings. "They didn't like the thought of having an only child," my sister said. This is fine, because I would not have wished to have a younger sister. Janet has dubbed his younger sister Janet a "piano prodigy" and "the family's musical genius," but she said she was too shy to be a performer herself.

During Porl Thompson's tenure as the lead guitarist for Malice and the Easy Cure, Janet Smith knew him as the erstwhile "second" guitarist of The Cure. Janet's older sister Margaret contributed backing vocals to the project as well as being involved in the Crawley Goat Band since about 1973. Janet performed at the Marquee Club in March 1980, joined by Simon Gallup's then-girlfriend Carol (both dressed as schoolgirls), with "the Obtainers," a true-life schoolboys, performed at the Marquee Club.

The Cure's in-house design firm "Parched Art" (Porl Thompson and Andy Vella) created the album cover for The Head on the Door using a altered photograph of Janet taken by Porl. Janet left a career as a pianist to spend more time with Porl and The Cure in the mid-1980s, and the couple were married in March 1988. Janet is also credited with teaching Robert's guitar technician Perry Bamonte to play piano when the band was playing Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, before Bamonte joined the band as keyboardist in 1990.

The Cure performed the song "I Can Never Say Goodbye," dedicated to Smith's recently deceased brother Richard, who died during the concert in Tauron Arena Kraków 20 October 2022.

Smith says he is generally uncomfortable with interviews and conversations with strangers and does not have any interest or desire to participate in either, leading to a dry sense of humour that was not exemplified at his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Although he is on several social media platforms, he does not actively use it, rather using it as a central presence to discourage imposters from preventing imposters.

Smith has referred to himself as a "liberal kind of guy," but he is "uncomfortable with politicised musicians." On tour in 2012 and 2013, he carried a 'citizens, not subjects' slogan on his guitar. Smith discussed his political views in a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone, saying he has "always had what could be described as a socialist viewpoint on the planet" before deciding that "right of center is always wrong, and that is as political as I am in public."

Source

Music career

Smith has said that his first band, his brother Richard, their younger sister Janet, and some of Richard's relatives were all present. "It was called the Crawley Goat Band," he remarked. However, although Smith's first regular band, he would have turned 13 years old when he and his Notre Dame schoolmates first gave their first one-off performance together as The Obelisk, the early incarnation of what would later be called The Cure. Smith (still playing piano at this point) appeared with Marc Ceccagno (lead guitar), Michael Dempsey (guitar), Alan Hill (bass), and Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (percussion) and Kevin Hill (percussion), according to The Cure's official biography Ten Imaginary Years (percussion). Jeff Apter, on the other hand, dates the performance to April 1973, which is a departure from Smith and his bandmates' departures from Notre Dame Middle School by this time.

The nucleus of Smith, Ceccagno, Dempsey, and Tolhurst had gone to secondary school at St Wilfrid's Comprehensive, where they and their classmates continued to play together in 1972. Smith said they were simply named "The Group" "because it was the only one at school, so we didn't need a name." Dempsey, who went from guitar to bassist on "The Group," said that another name they played with was the Brat's Club, a nod to Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust. "The group" eventually became Malice, "much like a sub-metal punk band," Smith said, "with Michael Dempsey, Laurence, and two other blokes." The Ten Imaginary Years biography of Malice between January and December 1976 featured many "other blokes," with founding guitarist Marc Ceccagno being replaced by Lol Tolhurst, an early drummer who was only identified as "Graham" and "Graham" removed by Lol Tolhurst, and "Graham's brother" replaced by vocalist Martin Creasy, according to group's Ten Imaginary Years biography. Malice was a disease sufferer by 1977.

Smith did not intend to be the lead vocalist of The Cure. The Bowler and Dray note that the Obelisk had "featured Dempsey and Ceccagno as guitarists, as well as him [Robert] on piano as a background player." Smith, who was still one of several float members as "The Company" began as Malice in January 1976, was still one of several frogs. Smith said of the first "proper" rehearsal at St Edwards Church: Smith referred to the following:

According to those concerned, Graham's brother was replaced by vocalist Martin Creasy, a journalist with The Crawley Observer, whose brief association with the company was a live débâcle. Malice had changed their name to Easy Cure in January 1977, partially to separate themselves from these earlier shows. Both drummer Lol Tolhurst and bassist Mick Dempsey have performed vocals with the group in the early years. Tolhurst appeared on a cover of "Wild Thing" at Malice's early performances, and Dempsey performed backing vocals on songs including "Killing An Arab," and even recorded lead vocals on one track on The Cure's debut album, their interpretation of Hendrix's "Foxy Lady." Gary X, a guitarist who made his singing debut in April 1976, died and was replaced by Peter O'Toole in March. O'Toole remained Easy Cure's reliable front man for several months, "gaining a large local audience," and the singer appeared on the home demo tapes that secured them their first recording deal with Hansa Records.

However, by the time Easy Cure joined London's Sound And Vision Studio to record for Hansa in October 1977, O'Toole had left to work on a Kibbutz in Israel. Smith then fell into a vocalist role by default, as no better substitute appeared.

He told Musician magazine in 1989:

Smith was also not the sole songwriter or lyricist in the band's early years; the band name 'Easy Cure' came from a Lol Tolhurst lyric that Smith shortened to the first half of each line. The Cure was a short name that was quickly changed to Easy Cure shortly after. Smith wrote and recorded demos of some of The Cure's most popular early songs on his sister Janet's Hammond organ, including "10:15 Saturday Night."

Smith was credited as the main writer of "most of The Cure's songs and lyrics" by the time the NME visited the band in October 1979, although he refused to perform and perform songs that weren't his own by the time. Smith also wrote most of the songs for the album Seventeen Seconds, using the Hammond, a drum machine, and his trademark Top 20 Woolworth's guitar, during a home demo session in his parents' basement. The bulk of the songs were written in a single night in Newcastle. Later this week, Michael Dempsey, who was debating his own resignation from the company at the time, remarked: 'Michael Dempsey,' discussing his own departure from the company at this moment, remarked: '

Although Smith wrote the majority of the song for Seventeen Seconds, several of the songs were also rewritten by the band during the recording of the album itself. Simon Gallup, Dempsey's replacement, spoke to Sounds in 1980, describing the collaborative writing process:

Lol Tolhurst added that he, Gallup, Smith, and Smith all wrote lyrics for The Cure's early albums, and that the group's dynamic only changed after their 1982 album Pornography.

Tolhurst said to have written the lyrics for "All Cats Are Grey" from 1981's Faith, which he later recorded with his own project, Levinhurst. In comparison to Tolhurst's recollection of their songwriting as a group effort before 'Pornography' was released, Smith said he wrote "90 percent of the 'Pornography' album" in 1982 and that, therefore, he couldn't leave The Cure without him.

All members of the band (Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, Faith, and Pornography) received equal songwriting credit for their first four albums (Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, Faith, and Pornography). According to Smith, much of the writing and recording process within The Cure effectively became a solo effort after Simon Gallup's resignation, reducing the group to a pair, and Tolhurst quitting drums to begin teaching keyboard lessons from July 1982 to Gallup's return in February 1985. Despite this, Tolhurst was credited as co-writer of five of the eight songs on 1983's singles and b-sides collection Japanese Whispers (including "Let's Go to Bed" and "The Walk"), though "The Dream" and "The Dream" were solely credited to Smith. Smith's album "The Solo Album I Never Made" after playing virtually all instruments except for drums (by Andy Anderson), with Porl Thompson contributing saxophone to one song ("Give Me It") and Tolhurst providing keyboards to three of the album's ten songs.

On August 3, 1979, Robert Smith met Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees at a Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire gig at the London YMCA. Both the Banshees and The Cure had been licensed to Polydor and its imprint Fiction, respectively, and Smith was a big fan of the Banshees. The two teams loved it, and Severin invited Smith to accompany the Banshees on a UK tour in support of their second album Join Hands. Later in August, the two bands began touring in Aberdeen, and Banshees guitarist Sioux contributed backing vocals to "I'm Cold," the band's b-side to The Cure's forthcoming album "Jumping Someone Else's Train" (which was released in November). Smith offered to replace McKay temporarily on the condition that The Cure remained the opening act, rather than let the tour come to an end, while ex-Slits drummer Budgie joined on drums. Smith was in both bands every night on the tour, and he returned on September 18th. Smith returned full time to The Cure at the end of the tour.

Severin attributed Smith's change from a reticent figure to a more enigmatic front person to Smith's early participation with Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Smith, meanwhile, devised the Cult Hero project to collaborate with bassist Simon Gallup of the Magspies, who appeared at Morgan Studios in October 1979. Smith made recordings for the fledgling independent label Dance Fools Dance, which co-founded Robert Smith and Ric Gallup, as well as some leftover time in the studio from the Cult Hero sessions. The Cult Hero single was released on the Fiction Records label in December 1979, the Magspies/Obtainers split single followed Dance Fools Dance the following year.

Hugh Cornwell, who had been arrested on drug charges in late 1980, appeared at the Rainbow Theatre in London on Wednesday and Matthieu Hartley (also of the Magspies, Cult Hero, and, later, Cure) were among the many visitors of a unique line-up of The Stranglers. On the second night, Joy Division were also one of the support bands. The Stranglers and Friends – Live in Concert in 1995 was later released as The Stranglers and Friends – Live in Concert later this year. Smith performed backing vocals on The Associates' debut album, The Affectionate Punch, which was released in August 1980. At the time, The Associates had also signed to Fiction Records, and Michael Dempsey, a former Cure bassist, had joined them in late 1979. Billy Mackenzie, the Associates' front man, was a Smith's friend for more than 20 years, and The Cure's song, "Cut Here" (from 2001's Greatest Hits album), was written in reaction to Mackenzie's death in 1997.

As Smith told Jam!

Following the introduction of "Greatest Hits" (the movie) on showbiz, we're excited to see how you can do it.

The Cure and And Also the Trees became best friends straight away during 1981. Front-man Simon Huw Jones told Abstract Magazine that the Cure were AATT's "best followers, the first ones who came up to us and said, 'We think you're awesome,'" and that the two groups were mutually influenced by one another. During November and December 1981, The Cure joined The Cure in support of the Eight Appearances Tour of Scotland and Northern England, as well as 1313, starring Steve Severin and Lydia Lunch, and Robert Smith and Cure/Banshees co-producer Mike Hedges co-produced And Also the Trees' 1982 cassette release From Under the Hill. Smith was supposed to produce the band's debut single "The Secret Sea," but instead Lol Tolhurst stepped in as producer from 1982–84, both for the band's first two singles and their self-titled debut album. Smith would revisit And Also the Trees in 1991 (see: Remixes, Cranes, Pirate Ships, and Also the Trees).

Smith began working with Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees in the aftermath of The Cure's Fourteen Explicit Moments tour, which culminated in Simon Gallup's departure and temporary dissolution of The Cure in June 1982. Despite being published under the name of The Cure, Smith and Severin were the only ones to perform on the original Flexipop single release of "Lament" in August 1982, and Smith and Severin followed The Cure, and Smith explained later that the Cure was no longer a band but simply named. Smith regained control of Dance Fools Dance in August, releasing the single "Frame One" by Crawley gothic/post-punk outfit Animation's "Frame One" in August. Smith, Tolhurst's (now on keyboards) and session drummer Steve Goulding went into the studio in September to record a "blatant pop single" at the request of Fiction Records boss Chris Parry. Smith was reportedly so dissatisfied with the resultant track "Let's Go to Bed" that he attempted to have the single released under the name of Recur, suspecting that Cure fans were turned away. Smith and Severin also recorded early demos for what would be the Glove's "Punish Me With Kisses" album at Mike Hedges' studio "The Playground."

Following John McGeoch's death from exhaustion a week before the band's tour began, Smith resurfaced as a live guitarist with Siouxsie and the Banshees from November. Smith's return to guitar work with the band prompted him to remark:

He later said he was "fed up" and "fully disillusioned" with The Cure's pressures, and that "the Banshees thing came along and seemed to be a really good escape." As [McGeoch] was informed of Smith's dismissal after his recovery from a brief period of clinical depression," journalist/biographer Jo-Ann Greene said that Smith's replacement "left a bad taste in many people's mouths.

Smith, who had been on tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in January 1983, was approached by Nicholas Dixon, a young choreographer with the Royal Ballet, to direct a choreographed version of Les Enfants Terribles. Smith and Severin produced a reworking of The Cure's "Siamese Twins," with Tolhurst on drums and Anne Stephenson and Virginia Hewes (later known as Ginni Ball) of the Venomettes on violins, which featured two dancers choreographed by Dixon. Despite a positive critical reception, however, neither Dixon nor Smith were content with the outcomes, and the Les Enfants Terribles project was postponed indefinitely. The Venomettes were a string and vocal performance group associated with Batcave beginnings, whose members collaborated with Marc Almond (as part of Marc and the Mambas), Andi Sexgang, Siouxsie, and This Mortal Coil, among other things, including Marc Almond. Stephenson and Hewes had appeared on the Siouxsie and the Banshees' album A Kiss in the Dreamhouse before, while Venomette Martin McCarrick later became a full member of the Banshees.

Smith and Severin co-wrote the song to the Marc and the Mambas' "Torment," which also featured the Venomettes and appeared on the album Torment and Toreros, while the Venomettes (McCarrick, Stephenson, and Hewes) performed strings in the studio with the Glove. Smith was in the studio recording with the Glove, Siouxsie, and the Cure, as well as (ostensibly) The Cure, from March to June 1983, prompting him to say, "I need a holiday." I keep making plans to go every week, but every week I'm in another group.'

Smith and Severin first considered working on an international side-project in 1981, but the Banshees and the Cure had no time for the initiative. However, with The Cure on hold and Siouxsie and Budgie working together as the Creatures, the Glove's album Blue Sunshine began in earnest in May 1983. Jeanette Landray, formerly a dancer with Zoo, was hired to perform vocals, while Brilliant's Andy Anderson was brought in to play drums. The Glove came from the Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine's "murder mitten," although the album name derives from a B-movie with a potent strain of LSD that caused people to lose their hair and turn into homicidal maniacs many years after their first trip.

Severin said of the project:

Smith characterized the album's production by saying: "It's my job to write this article," Smith explains.

The Brood, Evil Dead, The Helicopter Spies, and Inferno were among the projects that were cited as fueling the effort, as well as Barbarella, Yellow Submarine, and the eponymous Blue Sunshine. The Glove was described as "a manic psychedelic pastiche" by Melody Maker Steve Sutherland.

Both the Glove's Blue Sunshine album and its lead single "Like an Animal" were released in August 1983, followed by Siouxsie and the Banshees' single "Dear Prudence" (a homage to the Beatles' song) in September, which was released on Banshees' own label Wonderland Records. According to Banshee's official biography, "Dear Prudence" was filmed at Smith's insistence to document his time with the company, and it became the company's most popular UK hit, ranking number 3 on the Singles Chart.

Siouxsie and the Banshees were also invited to appear in a portion of Channel 4's "Play at Home" shortly before the company's scheduled Royal Albert Hall performances in September and October 1983, which they later accepted in order to profit from the group's upcoming concerts being shot. Smith had previously told Severin that "the Banshees shouldn't be doing tours; they should be doing something really exciting like The Wizard of Oz on stage," and Severin decided to bring this concept to life in Wonderland, replacing the Wizard of Oz image with Alice in Wonderland's Wonderland recording label. The result was a 45-minute television program starring performances from Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Glove and the Creatures, in which all four Banshees appeared in a recreation of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party disguised as Alice, while each individual member scripted their own solo character performance and monologue. The Glove performed "A Blues in Drag," the Creatures on "Weathercade," and the entire band performed "Circle." The show (which did not air on television until the following year) came to an end with live footage of Siouxsie and the Banshees performing "Voodoo Dolly" and "Helter Skelter" at the Royal Albert Hall. In addition, the Glove's second single, "Punish Me with Kisses," and the Banshees' live double album and companion video, Nocturne from the Albert Hall shows. "Swimming Horses" was the first Banshees single to feature Smith on guitar in March 1984, followed by "Dazzle" in May, and finally the album Hyna in June was released in June, citing health problems due to Smith's overloaded schedule.

Meanwhile, Smith found time to perform on Tim Pope's "I Want To Be A Tree" single, in between commitments to The Cure, the Glove, and the Banshees. Pope, Siouxsie, and Marc Almond, among others, was on a roll back when his fame as a video director on American MTV began to rival that of the bands he worked for. People referring to "Tim Pope Videos" were "a real piss-take of what was going on in America," and he said he "strongly believed" that they were not Tim Pope videos, not Tim Pope videos, or Siouxsie videos or something." During the 1983 Christmas holidays, Pope Francis Gray and a friend wrote "this really stupid song" that they co-written years ago as teenagers. Pope urged several of the artists with whom he collaborated (The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft Cell, Talk About, the Style Council, Paul Young and Freur) to "come along and slag me off on the showreel," in accompanying video for his showreel. He then portrayed the artists the song while filming their reactions to it. The Old Grey Whistle Test screened the video, which Pope claims resulted in several historic deals being sold. Robert Smith appeared on most instruments in January 1984, a Chris Parry production, and was released on Fiction Records (with a new video) in June.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the double album was released in 1987, with the singles "Hot, Hot, Hot" featuring singles. In the United States, "Just Like Heaven" is on the rise. Following the album's success, a world tour descended on stadiums. Simon Gallup, Boris Williams, Roger O'Donnell, Lol Tolhurst, Porl Thompson, and Robert Smith were among the line-ups. 'McPath', a new track, was played for the first time that night and was later released.

Robert Smith's full-time primary band was back in 1984 after the completion of the Blue Sunshine project and his removal from Siouxsie and the Banshees. His musical outings outside of The Cure were relatively rare, with notable exceptions including remixing for And Also the Trees and Cranes. Smith and producer Mark Saunders remixed 7'' and 12'' versions of "The Pear Tree," by And Also the Trees, in 1989. The "Round Mix" of the band's album Farewell to the Shade in 1989 was followed by the unveiling of The Pear Tree EP in the United States the following year. Robert recorded a solo cover version of Wendy Waldman's "Pirate Ships," originally intended for Rubáiya's 40th anniversary; a compilation album focusing The Cure's US label Elektra Records. Rather, the full band line-up of The Cure released "Hello, I Love You" by Elektra, and "Pirate Ships" did not see a single CD release until Disintegration's "Deluxe Edition" reissue in 2010.

On the Wish Tour in 1992, Smith invited Cranes to help The Cure live. Cranes' vocalist Alison Shaw was sick and the group had to rewrite their entire set for one of the tour's French dates (Stade Couvert Régional, Liévin, November 15, 1992), and joined by Thompson by The Cure's guitarist Porl Thompson. Cranes recorded the majority of their forthcoming album (1993's Forever) while on the Wish Tour, and the album's name was partially inspired by touring with The Cure. Smith and Bryan "Chuck" New remixed Cranes' single Jewel from the album in 1993; Smith also contributed his trademark Fender Bass VI sound and additional guitars to the remixed track. Cranes' first Top 30 single in the United Kingdom and Norway was released, as well as their first commercial breakthrough in the United States.

Smith's first musical performance began in 1993, with the release of The Cure's album Wild Mood Swings in 1996 and the Swing Tour in early 1997. During David Bowie's 50th Birthday concert at Madison Square Garden (9 January 1997), where he performed with Bowie on "The Last Thing You Should Do" and "Quicksand." Reeves Gabls, a guitarist from Bowie, and co-producer Mark Plati joined Smith on the single "Wrong Number" for Bowie. Despite being listed under the name The Cure, "Wrong Number" was one of several "one-off" studio projects recorded during Robert Smith's time as an outsider or with guest musicians from outside The Cure's full-time lineup. Earlier versions of the song had already been released by the band, but Plati and Smith reconstructed the album, based on a sampled drum loop created by Cure drummer Jason Cooper. Smith and Plati added keyboards, effects, and vocals, while Gabriels dropped "a gazillion guitar tracks." "Wrong Number" was released in October 1997 as the Cure's latest promotional single on the Cure's Galore singles compilation album, and was released in August.

Robert worked with Reeves Gabrels in the studio in February 1998, co-writing, singing, and performing on the song "Yesterday's Gone" (eventually found its way to CD release in 2000). Smith continued recording solo between RAK and Outside studios in the upcoming month, this time by co-producer Paul Corkett, whose production credits include Nick Cave, Björk, Placebo, Tori Amos, and Suede. These sessions resulted in "More Than This" (not to be confused with Roxy Music's "More Than This) and a copy of Depeche Mode's "Matter of My Eyes" for the tribute album For the Masses. Both were released under the name Cure this time, but they were essentially Robert Smith solo recordings.

Smith said:

Smith appeared on an episode of South Park earlier this year (see South Park: Mecha-Streisand), and he and Trey Parker co-produced "A Sign from God" for the film Orgazmo. Smith's contribution to "Yesterday's Gone" appeared on Gabrels' solo album "Della Notte") in 1999 via internet and in 2000 on CD by E-magine Music.

Smith's musical career from 1999 to 2002 was dominated by The Cure, which included the recording of the Bloodflowers album in 2000, followed by the introduction of their Greatest Hits collection in 2001.

In 2002, as Exclaim!

The Cure became "the band to namedrop as a musical authority," the magazine's Cam Lindsay later said, sparking renewed passion for their careers. Deftones, Mogwai, Tricky, and Thursday all praise the band and emphasise their fame, while others, like Hot Hot Heat and the Rapture, are subjected to constant comparisons. "Feat" was a regular series of guest vocal performances from 2003 to 2004. "Robert Smith" was a playwright. "Perfect Blue Sky" Smith wrote and performed the song "Perfect Blue Sky" (feat). "All of This (feat.)" for Dutch electronic music producer Junkie XL's album Radio JXL; a Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin, released in June 2003. "Believe (feat.)" for Blink-182's self-titled album, as well as "Believe" (feat. "British guitarist Earl Slick's Zig Zag album was released on December 9, 2003, Robert Smith." Slick meanwhile contributed guitars to the Mark Plati version of "A Forest" on the Join The Dots box set on January 27, 2004. Despite being released under the moniker "The Cure," the "Mark Plati mix" was actually a brand new recording resulting from Slick's studio sessions with Smith, Plati, and Smith. During 2003, Smith performed vocals for another completely new version of "A Forest," this time as a cover version by the German electronic duo "Blank & Jones). "Robert Smith"" The single was released in September 2003 and debuted at number 14 on the German Top100 Singles charts, and three separate remixes followed; AllMusic's Rick Anderson called it "the centerpiece of the album"; "A Forest" debuted on the 2004 album Monument; "the centerpiece of the album" was released later this year.

The single release of Junior Jack's "Da Hype" in January 2004 (feat). Robert Smith (Japan)", which also appeared on the Belgia-based Italian house music producer's album Trust It in March. An exclusive re-recording of The Cure's "Pictures of You" by Australian electronic musician/producer Paul Mac, remixed by Australian electronic singer/producer Paul Mac and published under the title "Robert Smith – Pictures of You" in the Australian "rave culture" film One Perfect Day during the same month. "Reality Is (Featuring Robert Smith)" appeared on former Nine Inch Nails drummer and co-founder Chris Vrenna's second Tweaker album 2 a.m. Wake Up Call, released 20 April 2004. During the MTV Icon tribute to The Cure, Robert joined Blink-182 live onstage in London on September 17th to perform "All of This." On October 21, Robert was one of three guest presenters for John Peel on BBC Radio 1, just days before Peel's death. Near the end of the year, Robert Smith made two guest appearances live at Wembley Arena, first appearing on "Without You I'm Nothing" and The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry" on Friday and then back on Sunday to perform "All of This" and "Boys Don't Cry" and "Boys Don't Cry" on Friday.

Smith appeared on Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan front man Billy Corgan's solo debut TheFutureEmbrace in June 2005, sharing vocal duties during Corgan's cover of "To Love Somebody." Robert appeared on UK trance and trip hop band Faithless' album to All New Arrivals in November 2006, including video of The Cure's "Lullaby" for which Smith performed a new version of the original vocal. Paul Hartnoll of Orbital's song "Please" was released as a single and appeared on The Ideal Conditions in May 2007. Placebo's Steve Hewitt revealed plans to debut a solo dance/drum'n'bass-influenced album under the Working title of Ancient B, which would include Smith, trombones, and bassist Jon Thorne of Lamb.

Many cover versions were released by Robert Smith solo from 2010–2012, as well as continuing to collaborate with other artists as a guest performer. These were rather than his previous solo covers (such as "Pirate Ships" and "World in My Eyes"), rather than The Cure. In 2010, he contributed a cover of Alice in Wonderland's 1951 film version to the album Almost Alice; a companion to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland; and "Pirate Ships" from 1989 was released on CD for the first time. "Feat" is the result of yet another guest vocalist/lyricist collaboration. "Jaurai toute essayé" (a reworking of Smith and Earl Slick's "Believe") by French Canadian rock singer, guitarist and fellow Bowie/Mark Plati/Earl Slick collaborator Anik Jean and the single version of Crystal Castles' cover version of Platinum Blonde's "Not in Love) was published on Fiction Records on December 6, 2010, a Robert Smith "Double" by Robert Smith during 2010. The Japanese popstars from Northern Ireland unveiled their album Controlling Your Allegiance in the United Kingdom in June 2011, which included the track "Take Forever (Ft. Robert Smith)," and the following month, a solo cover of "Small Hours" by British singer-songwriter and guitarist John Martyn (1948–2009) was released on the tribute album Johnny Boy Would Love This." The instrumental rock band 65daysofstatic released the song "Come to Me" as a free download on October 25, 2011, coincident with the introduction of their album We Were Exploding Until. Robert released a solo cover version of a Tim Burton film in 2012, this time covering Frank Sinatra's 1957 hit song "Witchcraft" for Frankenweenie Unleashed!, a 14-track collection of songs "inspired by" the filmmaker's stop-motion film Frankenweenie, released on September 25.

Smith performed vocals on the album "Please" by 6:58, a Paul Hartnoll project. The album is actually a reworking of the Ideal Condition track, which he also performed on. The Twilight Sad released "There's a Girl in the Corner" on June 15th, a single by Smith of the Twilight Sad. Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave. Smith appeared on "In All Worlds," a single from Eat Static's album Dead Planet, in 2015.

Smith appeared on the Gorillaz' song "Strange Timez" from their Song Machine collection in September 2020 and also appeared in the song's animated music video.

Smith appeared in two live stream charity fundraisers in December 2020, including "Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People" by The Cosmic Shambles Network, and the 24-hour charity live stream on December 12, 2020. Smith performed three songs from his Seventeen Seconds collection: "In Your House," "M," and "Play for Today." Smith performed three songs from the Faith album, "The Holy Hour," "The Funeral Party," and "The Drowning Man" on Friday, the annual Second City 24-hour improvisation charity fundraiser for "Letters to Santa" — "The Doctor Who."

Smith appeared on Chvrches' "How Not To Drown" from their album Screen Violence in June 2021.

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