Collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo, Robert Smith Breaks into Billboard Hot 100 as a Soloist

JAKARTA - The Cure's vocalist and leader, Robert Smith, has made a new history in his musical career.

For the first time, the 67-year-old musician managed to break into the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a solo artist, thanks to his collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo.

Their collaborative song titled "What's Wrong With Me" immediately soared and took the 17th position in its debut on the Billboard Hot 100.

Based on data from Luminate, the duet song between Rodrigo and Smith managed to collect 15.5 million official streams in the United States region in the first week of its release.

This song is part of Olivia Rodrigo's latest album, "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love", which also immediately skyrocketed to number one on the Billboard 200 with 485,000 album-equivalent units - making it the second biggest debut week of 2026 after BTS' "ARIRANG" album.

This achievement was an emotional moment for Olivia Rodrigo. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, the 23-year-old singer admitted that her family has had a special relationship with The Cure's works for a long time.

"I was watching The Cure's concert with my dad and we hugged each other while singing 'Pictures of You'. I felt, 'This is so beautiful,' and we were crying," said Rodrigo.

"It's a tradition in my family. We are very, very emotional when it comes to music, it's part of us," he continued.

For Robert Smith himself, the Billboard Hot 100 chart is actually not new. With The Cure, he is recorded as having perched on the popular chart 14 times from 1986 to 1996.

One of his highest achievements with The Cure was achieved through the song "Love Song" which successfully broke into the second place in 1989.

On the other hand, the latest achievement with Rodrigo was accompanied by good news for The Cure fans. Robert Smith confirmed that his band is preparing to release two new albums at once in the near future.

Speaking on BBC 6 Music, Smith revealed that The Cure had recorded a lot of material. Currently, the work on the second album has been completed and is ready to be handed over to the label.

"We actually recorded enough songs for three albums, so the second album is finished. As for the third album, frankly, this is a bit strange," said Robert Smith sharing production details.

He also realized that the change in musical style on the third album might make some fans speculate and associate it with his latest collaboration project with Olivia Rodrigo.

"People will probably think, 'Ah, it's because he just collaborated with Olivia,' because this third album is actually very cheerful. It's very pop-oriented," said Smith.

"This is my concept of - Cure Pop - the tempo is maybe 20 BPM slower than anything she (Olivia) brings, but compared to what we've been doing in the last few years, this album is very rock. It's really amazing," he concluded.