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Robert James Smith (born April 21 , 1959 in Blackpool , England ), a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, has been the lead singer and driving force behind English Post-punk band The Cure since its founding in 1976 . Highly influenced by The Beatles , Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie , he started playing guitar at the age of 12. Smith has played the 6 and 12 string Guitar s; 4 and 6 string Bass Guitar s; Double Bass ; Piano ; Drums ; Violin ; Trumpet and Trombone , in various combinations. OVERVIEW : ''See also the history of The Cure '' Robert is the third of four children born to Alex and Rita Smith. His siblings are Richard, Margaret, and Janet. Interestingly enough, Janet is married to Porl Thompson , the lead guitarist of The Cure. Smith was raised Catholic and went to St. Mary's high school as a teenager. While he does not practice the religion, he has written many songs about Spirituality , especially in the aptly-titled album '' Faith '' Smith has written or co-written the bulk of The Cure's music and lyrics in a career spanning 25 years. He has also been involved in other musical projects, including a stint with Siouxsie & The Banshees and his Side-project with Steven Severin called The Glove . He has also contributed vocals to a number of independent projects and performances, among them the B-side of the Faith cassette which is a 30 minute track from a movie project - Carnage Visors. Smith is instantly recognizable for his deliberately smeared red lipstick and messy black hair that some have compared to a large spider. He first used Siouxsie Sioux 's lipstick while he was high on Opium . Smith's image has contributed to the frequent classification of The Cure as a Goth band, a moniker Smith rejects. Smith is also known for his distinctive wavering singing style. Smith's lyrics are frequently poetic and as frequently inscrutable. Smith has stated that they are often the product of some "altered state," such as Drugs or sleep deprivation. Smith met Mary Poole in school when he was 14 years old. They have been together since and were married in 1988 . Smith wrote "Love Song" as a wedding present. They have agreed to remain childless. In October 2004 , he stood in as one of three guest presenters for John Peel on BBC Radio 1 , a week before the DJ's untimely death. "Just Like Heaven" is reportedly Smith's favorite pop song that The Cure has produced and easily one of the public's most popular in which he details a lost love: "'' found myself alone alone alone above the raging sea / that stole the only girl I loved / and drowned her deep inside of me. ''" While it is often assumed that Smith is constantly Depressed , he has said that his songs do not convey how he feels all, or even most, of the time. : "'' At the time we wrote ''Disintegration''...it's just about what I was doing really, how I felt. But I'm not like that all the time. That's the difficulty of writing songs that are a bit depressing. People think you're like that all the time, but I don't think that. I just usually write when I'm depressed." -Robert Smith in a 1989 interview {Link without Title} Smith is The Cure's last original member. When asked who their favorite lineup is, most fans will almost always mention Smith along with Simon Gallup , Porl Thompson , and Boris Williams . DISCOGRAPHY Band discography → ''See The Cure Discography from 1976 (start) to present'' → ''See The Glove Discography in 1983 (only album)'' → '' See Siouxsie & The Banshees Discography : 1983-1984 Collaborations In 2003 , Smith worked in collaboration with the band Blink-182 on the track "All of This" off their album '' Blink-182 ''. In 2004 , Blank & Jones remixed "A Forest" featuring Robert Smith on vocals. There is an EP with a bonus DVD with 4 audio remixes, a Music Video and an interview by Blank & Jones with Smith that takes place before the video shoot. That year, he also provided vocals for Junior Jack for the club hit "Da Hype". In November, he joined Placebo onstage at their Wembley arena gig to sing Placebo's "Without You I'm Nothing" and Smith's own "Boys Don't Cry." He also co-wrote and supplied vocals for the Tweaker song "Truth Is." That same year, Junior Jack did a Remix of "Da Hype" featuring Smith on the album ''Trust It''. In 2005 , Smith teamed up with Billy Corgan , the former lead singer of both the Smashing Pumpkins and Zwan , to do a cover of the Bee Gees ' "To Love Somebody" on Corgan's first solo release, '' TheFutureEmbrace ''. Solo discography For more than two decades, Smith has been hinting at a solo album which has never materialized. It is often believed that most of his solo writing ends up in The Cure, with such closer tracks as "Homesick", "Untitled", "Treasure", "Bare", "Going Nowhere", but Smith denied this, crediting those songs to other members: : "'' I didn't write "Homesick" and I didn't write the music too. It's another misconception. Out of the 12 songs on the CD, I think I only wrote six musically... "Untitled"... (to Simon [Gallup ) You wrote that one ? ...It was Roger So it [(''Disintegration'') couldn't have been a solo album and if I'd done on my own it wouldn't have sounded anything like The Cure anyway apart from my own voice. ''The Top'' album could have been a solo album but it's not true the way we worked in studio ''" – Smith in a 1989 interview [http://imaginaryboys.altervista.org/english/cure/articles/tib_holyhour.htm In 2001 , Smith was going to disband The Cure and work on his solo album, but was convinced otherwise by producer Ross Robinson , a massive fan. Robinson told Smith that he "had to make at least one more Cure album, ''the'' Cure album". Accordingly, Smith titled the band's 2004 release simply ''The Cure''. Another Cure album is due out in April 2006 , putting the solo album on hold once more. CURIOSA FESTIVAL For the 2004 "Curiosa" festival, Smith hand selected 11 bands to open for The Cure. It began with a concert in West Palm Beach, Florida on July 24 and ended in Sacramento, California on August 29 . Those bands included Interpol , The Rapture , and Mogwai . The concert had two stages, with the headlining bands on the main stage and the less well-known bands on the second stage. Bands on the second stage changed throughout the tour, and included Muse , Cursive , Head Automatica , Thursday , Scarling. , The Cooper Temple Clause , and Melissa Auf Der Maur . TRIVIA Smith has confessed to Drooling onto passersby from up in trees when he was a child. Smith appeared as himself in an episode of '' South Park '' in which he defeats Barbra Streisand in a battle. SEE ALSO
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