“I thought that was the end of The Cure”: Robert Smith reveals he planned to retire in 2018
2018 very nearly marked the end of The Cure, as Robert Smith reveals in a new interview.
The iconic frontman, now 65, tells Uncut that he had a “sneaky feeling” six years ago that the band would part ways after their Hyde Park show.
“I thought that the Hyde Park show would be it,” Smith admits. “I thought that was the end of The Cure.”
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Currently, the band is gearing up for the release of Songs of a Lost World, their first album in 16 years — with two more apparently in the works, but the thought of retirement loomed large for Smith as the group celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2018.
“I pinned so much on 2018 as an anniversary year – once it was gone I thought every moment from this point on is pretty much a bonus,” Smith recounts. “I didn’t plan it, but I had a sneaky feeling that this was going to be it.
“But it was such a great day and such a great response, I enjoyed it so much and we got a flood of offers to headline every major European festival. ‘Do you want to play Glastonbury?’ So I thought maybe it’s not the right time to stop.”
Smith explains that he wasn’t stopping because he “didn’t want to do it any more”, but that he thought it’d allow him a few years “when I’d still be able to do something else”.
“I wasn’t that bothered, funnily enough,” he continues. “I’d arranged everything to end in 2018, so when we got to 2019, I felt relieved. ‘We did it!’ I’ve had a different outlook to everything since. Pretty much everyone that died that meant something to me died prior to 2019, so I felt like I’ve got to make the most of it.”
Elsewhere, The Cure have released two limited edition guitars to raise funds for a cancer research charity. Dubbed the ‘Robert Smith Shellflower UltraCure Signature Series’, the guitars are released in partnership with Schecter and are limited to just 50 pieces for the humbuckers version and 25 pieces for the single coil version.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
