The Cure's Robert Smith Says He Wouldn't Listen to Chappell Roan and Charli XCX at Home

The Cure's Robert Smith is not all the way tuned into today's biggest stars.

The legendary frontman shared that he has been somewhat separated from rising stars Chappell Roan and Charli XCX despite them having a massive year on the charts and all of the acclaim that they have received.

In an interview with the Sidetracked podcast with Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw, Smith discussed his extensive music collection, but shared that he would be "disingenuous" to pretend he'd engaged in this year's pop phenoms.

The singer pointed out that Roan and Charli's records were also not aimed at him as their core audience.

"It would be kind of a bit weird if I was like 'yeah it's my favorite thing," he told the hosts.

"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," Smith added.

He shared that he has been aware of Roan for some time as well as her rapid ascent to fame over the last year.

After the hosts brought up Roan's past comments about the pitfalls of fame and how it can be like an "abusive ex-husband," Smith said that this is a "complicated subject."

"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," he said.

"It was kind of enough that we did what we did and that people didn't really expect much. 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," the frontman continued.

Smith shared that it is "impossible, really, you can't be trained to respond," to this kind of situation with fame because "you have no grounding in how to deal with like the lower level."

Smith went on to note how fame can be "horrible."

"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," he added.

Tags

The Cure, Robert Smith, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan