The Cure: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• New Order
• Love and Rockets
• The Sisters of Mercy
• Bauhaus
• The Mission UK
• The Glove
• The Creatures

• Joy Division
• The Sex Pistols
• Siouxsie and the Banshees
• Klee
• The Kinks
• David Bowie
• Television

• Curve
• Vanishing Kids
• Boys Don't Cry
• Jane's Addiction
• Black Kids
• The Good Life
• The Mission UK

• The Glove
• Fools Dance
• South Park
• Just Jack
• Levinhurst
• Steve Dawson

Formed:

Jan 1, 1976 in Crawley, England

Genres:

Rock Music, Alternative Rock Music, Gothic Rock Music, Punk and Hardcore Rock Music

Decades Active:

1970's|1980's|1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

High

Cultural Impact

High

Popularity

High

Ratings Guide

Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, the Cure was one of the most enduring and popular. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (b. April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for their slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance. But the public image often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, they played jagged, edgy pop songs and they slowly evolved into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the '80s, the Cure had crossed over into the mainstream not only in their native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe.

Originally called the Easy Cure, the band was formed in 1976 by schoolmates Robert Smith (vocals, guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass), and Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (drums). Initially, the group was playing dark, nervy guitar pop with pseudoliterary lyrics, as evidenced by the Albert Camusinspired "Killing an Arab." A demo tape, featuring "Killing an Arab," arrived in the hands of Chris Parry, an AR representative at Polydor Records; by the time he received the tape, the band's name had been truncated to the Cure. Parry was impressed with the song and arranged for its release on the independent label Small Wonder in December 1978. Early in 1979, Parry left Polydor to form his own record label, Fiction, and the Cure was one of the first bands he signed to the label. "Killing an Arab" was rereleased in February of 1979, and the Cure set out on their first tour of England. the Cure's debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, was released in May 1979 to good reviews in the British music press. Later that year, the group released the nonLP singles "Boys Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train." That same year, the Cure embarked on a major tour with Siouxsie the Banshees. During the tour, the Banshees' guitarist John McKay left the group and Robert Smith stepped in for the missing musician; for the next decade or so, Smith would frequently collaborate with members of the Banshees.the Cure released a single, "I'm a Cult Hero," under the name the Cult Heroes. Following the release of the single, Dempsey left the band to join the Associates. Dempsey was replaced by Simon Gallup at the beginning of 1980. At the same time, the Cure added a