The Cure legend Robert Smith features on the new Olivia Rodrigo album.
Less than a week away from her new album’s release, Rodrigo revealed the news by bringing out Smith at Primavera Sound Festival as she performed their collaborative song, “What’s Wrong with Me”.
“It’s really special to me for so many reasons, primarily because it’s the first song I’ve ever had a feature on,” Rodrigo said while introducing the song to the festival crowd.
Rodrigo at first didn’t reveal who guested on the feature, or whether they were present at the festival, before Smith finally made his surprise appearance.
Industry insiders knew the ‘secret’ — that Smith was a full vocal partner on the song — for some time, after Rodrigo and Smith’s duet was revealed at a recent listening session for the former’s album several weeks ago in Los Angeles. Those who attended the session, however, were sworn to secrecy until Rodrigo dropped the news herself.
Rodrigo, of course, has made no secret of her love of Smith and The Cure. Her song “Drop Dead” includes a mention of the band in its lyrics, and she also has another song with the title “The Cure”.
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Rodrigo and Smith’s Primavera Sound duet wasn’t their first on-stage collaboration, as they previously performed Cure classic “Just Like Heaven” and “Friday I’m in Love” together at Glastonbury.
Rodrigo’s third album, which is titled You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, arrives on Friday (June 12th).
The album tracklist had previously been revealed, but Smith’s guest appearance wasn’t named on it.
Smith’s wasn’t just in Spain to surprise-duet with Rodrigo. The Cure played their own headlining set at Primavera Sound, playing a whopping 29 songs during what was the band’s first concert in 18 months. Their Primavera Sound set was mostly filled with classics songs from their back catalogue, with only a handful of newer songs.
