Robert James Smith (born April 21, 1959), a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, is the lead singer and driving force behind English rock band The Cure.

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 and the Banshees and his side-project with Steven Severin called The Glove, and has contributed vocals to a number of independent projects and performances.

Robert Smith is instantly recognizable for his image, which includes deliberately smeared red lipstick and messy black hair that some have compared to a large spider. 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.

Smith married Mary Poole in 1988. The song "Love Song" was written as a wedding present for Mary. They have agreed to remain childless.

In 2003, he worked in collaboration with the band Blink-182 on a track ("All of This") from their latest album Blink-182.

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 reportly Smith's favorite Cure song and easily one of the public's most popular in which he details meeting his future wife for one night and then waking up with her gone "found myself alone alone alone above the ranging sea / stole the only girl I loved / drowned her deep inside of me."

Discography

• Three Imaginary Boys (1979)
• Boys Don't Cry (1979)
• Seventeen Seconds (1980)
• Faith (1981)
• Happily Ever After (American compilation of Seventeen Seconds and Faith) (1981)
• Pornography (1982)
• Japanese Whispers (compilation) (1983)
• The Top (1984)
• Concert (live) (1984)
• The Head on the Door (1985)
• Standing on the Beach (compilation 1979-1985) (1986)
• Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987)
• Disintegration (1989)
• Mixed Up (remixes) (1990)
• Entreat (live Disintegration) (1990)
• Wish (1992)
• Show (live) (1992)
• Paris (live) (1992)
• Wild Mood Swings (1996)
• Galore (compilation 1987-1997) (1997)
• Bloodflowers (2000)
• Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years) (2004)
• The Cure (2004)

See Gothic rock for more info.