Robert Smith and Chappell Roan Sam Rockman; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
While some fans might be on “Fascination Street” when it comes to their favorite musicians, The Cure frontman Robert Smith understands Chappell Roan‘s frustrations with what she has described as the sometimes “predatory behavior” she has experienced.
During a recent chat with Annie Mcmanus and Nick Grimshaw of BBC podcast Sidetracked, the Grammy-nominated musician shared his thoughts on the subject, noting that the relationship between musician and fans can be a complicated one nowadays. “I think what you’re doing as an artist, you want people to feel like they’re engaging with you. But it is a modern-world phenomenon that there’s a sense of entitlement that didn’t used to be there amongst fans,” he explained. “When we started out, it was kind of enough that we did what we did, and people didn’t really expect, as a consumer, I didn’t expect something more. It was enough to kind of see Alex Harvey or to see David Bowie. I didn’t expect to, like, hang out with them or get to know them, whereas now, it seems almost like that is part of the deal.”
The rocker — whose 14th studio album Songs of a Lost World debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 after its arrival on Nov. 1 — added that The Cure also experienced unwelcome fan behavior as the group grew in popularity. “We obviously have experienced quite a lot of obsessive fan behavior down the years, and it can feel quite threatening, honestly,” he shared. “If you have people sleeping outside your front door, it can get very weird. … But when it comes to your front door and people are there and they feel like somehow the cosmos has fated and you’re dealing with people who perhaps aren’t quite you know, right all the time. So you think like, ‘How do you respond to this?’ It’s impossible, really.”
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Smith added that it can be even tougher for artists like Chappell, who saw their fame skyrocket rather than experience a gradual growth. “It is more difficult to deal with things because you’ve not grounded at a lower level,” he shared of The Cure’s own, more manageable ride. “It took us years and years and years of touring, going around the world and doing stuff, until by the time we’d started to get properly famous, I kind of knew how to respond. I’d already developed that as part of like, who I was.”
“But being famous, if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, I can’t imagine many worse ways of living,” the musician added. “‘Cause it’s horrible being gawked at all the time and prodded and poked and people expecting more of you all the time. It’s a very strange thing.”
Over the last few months, Roan — who was named Billboard‘s Top New Artist of 2024 and is in the running for 2025’s best new artist Grammy, among other gramophones — has been outspoken about the inappropriate behavior she’s faced from fans and photographers alike, and has in turn received support from musicians including Miley Cyrus, Noah Kahan and Jewel. “I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don’t owe you s–t,” she wrote in an August social media post. “I chose this career path because because I love music and art and honoring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it.”
And in October, the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer confronted a photographer on the red carpet who had been rude to her at a previous event. “You were so disrespectful to me at the Grammys,” she said in video captured of the moment. “I remember. You were so rude to me. And I deserve an apology for that … You need to apologize to me.”
Watch Robert Smith discuss toxic fan behavior on Sidetracked below:
