Robert Smith Nearly Talks Himself Out of Working with The Stones

The Cure's front man records on new album in Chiswick

Left: Robert Smith. Picture: Mr. Rossi Right: Mick Jagger recording in Metropolis Studio. Picture: The Rolling Stones

July 5, 2026

Robert Smith has revealed that his unexpected encounter with the Rolling Stones in Chiswick almost didn ’t happen — and that he initially turned down the chance to play on their new album.

The Cure frontman contributes guitar, synth and backing vocals to two tracks on the Stones’ forthcoming record Foreign Tongues, out 10 July: Divine Intervention and Never Wanna Lose You. But speaking on the band’s official podcast Speaking in Tongues, Smith said he arrived at Metropolis Studios “expecting just to get drunk, really ” rather than to record with Mick Jagger and company.

Producer Andrew Watt had invited Smith for a drink while finishing sessions for the album, recorded at the Chiswick studio. “He said they ’d pretty much done all the tracking and Mick was just left to pick up some vocal stuff, ” Smith recalled. “He told me the day before, ‘Mick might still be around ’, and I was like, that ’s OK. ”

Smith said he was reluctant to intrude on a vocal session, preferring to wait in the bar until Jagger was finished. But when an assistant told him the singer was “happy for [him] to come down”, he found himself walking into the control room to see Jagger performing through the glass. “It was not what I was expecting at all,” he said.

The two began chatting, and Jagger soon started playing him songs and asking for his thoughts. “I was availing myself of the refreshments and my tongue was loosening,” Smith said. “My suggestions were getting more and more absurd, I suspect, as they often do.”

Then came the invitation. “Out of nowhere [Jagger] said, ‘Do you fancy doing something on the album?’ And I was like, whoa, hang on! I wasn’t really prepared for it.” Smith initially declined, saying he hadn’t come to play, but later changed his mind after Jagger left for the night. “I said to Andrew, ‘Oh, come on then. Let’s plug a guitar in and I’ll have a go at some of the songs.’ So I just started playing and, yeah, one thing led to another.”

Jagger later told NME that Smith’s contribution to Divine Intervention added “sort of an indie lick” to the track. “Andy Watt invited him to come and listen to some of the tracks because we ’d almost finished, ” he said. “I said, ‘Let ’s get him to do something. ’ So he sings on Never Gonna Lose You – and he does a few synths.”

Speaking to Vulture, Jagger recalled first spotting Smith in the studio “with his back to me, with his long gown on… when he turned around he was covered in lipstick.” The Stones frontman quipped that the collaboration came about simply because “while you’re here then you’d better go and do something.”

Foreign Tongues follows the band’s Grammywinning Hackney Diamonds and features the late drummer Charlie Watts alongside new singles Rough and Twisted, In the Stars and Jealous Lover, plus a cover of Amy Winehouse ’s You Know I ’m No Good.