The Cure’s Robert Smith talks “obsessive fan behaviour” and Chappell Roan: “It’s horrible being gawped at all the time”

The Cure‘s Robert Smith has discussed “obsessive fan behaviour” and Chappell Roan‘s sudden rise to fame in a new interview.

The frontman commented on the impact of fame during a new interview on the Sidetracked podcast with Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw, in which he celebrated the release of the band’s latest LP, ‘Songs Of A Lost World’.

He began discussing his extensive music collection but added it would be “disingenuous” to pretend he’d engaged in this year’s pop phenomenons – Charli XCX‘s ‘Brat’ summer and Chappell Roan’s debut LP ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess‘.

Smith said the records aren’t aimed at him, and that “It would be kind of a bit weird if I was like ‘yeah it’s my favourite thing’.” He then added: “I think what they do as artists is really fantastic but I think that probably it would be dishonest if I said it’s what I listen to at home.”

However, he went on to say he’d been aware of Roan for a long time, as well as her very sudden ascent to fame in the year since the release of her 2023 debut album.

Roan has been vocal about her experiences of fame this year, venting about the normalisation of extreme fan behaviour, including “stalking, talking shit online, [people who] won’t leave you alone [and] yelling at you in public”. She added: “I didn’t know it would feel this bad.”

The former NME Cover star also compared fame to “an abusive ex-husband”. Elsewhere, she took to TikTok to share her thoughts on “weird” and “creepy” followers, and called out the “predatory behaviour” of so-called “superfans” that included “nonconsensual physical and social interactions”.

When asked about Roan’s comments on fame, Smith said it was a “complicated subject”, adding: “You want people to feel like they think they’re engaging with you, but it is a modern world phenomenon that there is a sense of entitlement that didn’t used to be there amongst fans when we started out.

“It was kind of enough that we did what we did and that people didn’t really expect much,” he continued. “I didn’t, as a consumer, I didn’t expect something more. It was enough to see Alex Harvey or to see David Bowie. I didn’t expect to hang out with them or to really get to know them whereas now it seems almost like that is part of the deal.”

He went on to say that as The Cure became more popular, they experienced some “obsessive fan behaviour”, including people sleeping outside of his front door, which he said felt “quite threatening”.

“You think, how do you respond to this? Because it’s impossible, really, you can’t be trained to respond,” he said. “And I think that if you’re elevated to a position of celebrity or success over a reasonably fast period of time, it’s more difficult to deal with things because you have no grounding in how to deal with like the lower level.

“It took us years and years and years of touring and going around the world and doing stuff until by the time we got started to properly famous, I kind of knew how to respond. I’d already developed that as part of who I was.”

Smith then went on to say: “But being famous, and if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, I can’t imagine many worse ways of living, ’cause it’s horrible being gawked at all the time, like prodded and poked and people expecting more of you all the time. It’s a very strange thing.”

Earlier this year, Roan also fired back at a photographer who seemingly told the singer to “shut the fuck up” while at the 2024 MTV VMAs. She later confronted a photographer she said had previously been “disrespectful” towards her.

The interview with Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw also saw Smith reflect on the viral Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame interview he did in 2019, revealing that he “felt bad” about it, and open up about his relationship with The Cure‘s ‘4:13 Dream’, saying that he isn’t a fan of how it turned out.

‘Songs Of A Lost World’ was given a five-star review by NME, which read: “Merciless? Yes, but there’s always enough heart in the darkness and opulence in the sound to hold you and place these songs alongside The Cure’s finest.”

It was also included in NME’s list of Best Albums Of The Year, while lead single ‘Alone’ starred in NME’s Best Songs Of 2024. “‘Alone’ ended a 16-year drought and proved The Cure haven’t lost any of their magic. Through swirling synths and cinematic instrumentation, paired with Robert Smith’s poignant lyricism and melodies, this epic is a masterwork of ethereal beauty and raw emotional depth,” the latter read. “One of their most captivating songs to date.”

Elsewhere, Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe’ was recently named as NME’s best song of 2024. “With ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, Roan set out to write a ‘big anthemic pop song’. It was an unqualified success: over subtly insistent synth-pop, Roan serves up home truths to someone desperately trying to deny their queerness,” the entry read.