What Does Robert Smith Eat?

Robert Smith of The Cure is not known for always living the healthiest lifestyle, yet he’s continued to lead the band for decades. So, what does Robert Smith eat?

Robert Smith’s go-to food includes extremely hot curries, specifically phaal, which is a Bangladesh-style curry that originated in England. He also likes peanut butter sandwiches. But being vegetarian-leaning, his usual diet consists largely of vegetables, and he prefers home-cooked meals rather than eating out.

But as soon as the term rock-star comes to your mind, you rarely associate a rock star with a vegetarian diet. All you can think about is a typical image of a musician with an alcohol bottle in one hand and a cigarette in another.

Especially if it is someone like Robert Smith, who was known for high levels of drug and alcohol use in the band’s heyday.

However, Robert Smith’s current lifestyle goes completely opposite to his past image. What caused this change of heart? How did Smith transform into a semi-vegetarian?

Let’s get into the details:

Is Robert Smith of The Cure vegan or vegetarian?

The lead vocalist of The Cure, Robert Smith, is not a strict vegetarian, although he does eat that way most of the time. As he enjoys seafood, specifically shrimp, the best term to describe his eating habits is pescatarian.

The rock guitarist is known to have gone mostly vegetarian years ago.

Several celebrities that come to my mind who choose to eat vegetarian food include Miley Cyrus, Moby, Jaden Smith, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, and many others.

For the uninitiated, it’s natural to ask: is vegetarian the same diet as a vegan? 

No. They are different. I myself was a vegetarian for about a decade and performed on stage with acts such as the B-52’s at 2 different P.E.T.A. benefits around 1990.

Individuals who go vegan adhere to a plant-based diet and avoid consuming animal products, including meat, poultry, fish, dairy, seafood, eggs, milk, and cheese. So even things like honey are off the list.

At the same time, a vegetarian diet excludes only meat, fish, poultry, and seafood. So milk, butter, cheese, etc., are all considered OK.

And since Robert has admitted that his favorite was prawn curry, to which he also shared a recipe, it can be taken that he is neither a vegetarian nor vegan.

The term pescatarian I used above is what is used to describe someone who is vegetarian but also eats seafood.

How long has Robert Smith been vegetarian?

Robert Smith, while a pescatarian and not a true vegetarian, gave up eating meat and poultry in the 1980s and has been eating that way for over 30 years. 

I remember reading The Cure’s lead vocalist slipping out the secret about his vegetarian diet in an interview with NME, Part 2. Although there is only an excerpt available online from which you can take the hint, it’s enough to know.

So, here we go:

The Q&A surrounding his run-in with Morrissey back in the ’80s revealed at a point that Robert mentioned himself as a non-meat-eating vegetarian pacifist sort of guy. 

According to Robert himself, he had been a vegetarian for three years before his run-in with Morrissey but didn’t feel a need to champion it as a cause.

On a more comprehensive note, whether the singer is a vegetarian hardly matters to his fans as long as they get to listen to his music.

Is Robert Smith of The Cure sober?

Robert Smith is not sober, but he gave up drinking liquor in 1999 when he turned 40. He used to drink wine on stage but now prefers beer. So he is slowing down on drinking compared to his drinking habits in the 1980s.

Robert also jumped on a 12-step program, although he doesn’t think he will ever get to that 12th step.

As the singer turned 61 in 2020, he appeared for an interview with Hot Press to discuss drugs, fit-regimes, football, David Bowie, and living in Dalkey.

Smith mentioned at one point in the interview: 

“Doing the Reflections thing last year and getting back with our old drummer Lol who was the catalyst, we did start to natter about the ‘old days’ in a way we hadn’t really done before. We’d have a drink after rehearsals and start telling these stories to Jason who’s been in the band for 17 years.”

For Smith, it’s about breathing and being able to keep his voice in shape. So, he gave up smoking and stopped drinking liquor years ago.

For now, he drinks only beer and tries “keep it to a gentle rain, because nobody likes a drought or a flood,” as suggested by the Stones’ Ronnie Wood about Smith’s alcohol consumption.

While The Cure has had some great guitarists, including both Porl/Pearl Thompson and Reeves Gabrels, does that mean Robert Smith’s guitar playing isn’t that great?

In my recent article, I got into his guitar playing, exactly what songs are mostly him on guitar, and why they sometimes, but not always, have had additional guitarists.

Just click that link to read it on my site.

Are the other members of The Cure vegan or vegetarian?

None of the other current members of The Cure identify as a strict vegetarian or vegan, with Robert Smith’s pescatarian diet being the closest to vegetarian.

However, it is true that more and more musicians are eating healthier than was typical in decades past.

But what is the reason so many musicians are ditching the meat? Going vegetarian or vegan, while not a new trend, recently caught momentum. In the music industry, plant-based, cruelty-free living is becoming more and more popular. The music scene is just as involved as any other field.

More and more artists are leaning on meat-free diets. 

A couple that may surprise you in the healthy diet area is Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Long known as the bad boys of rock n’ roll, these 2, well into their 70s, still command the stage for 2+ hours a night, and their diet has a lot to do with that stamina.

Just click those links to read about their diet and health habits on my site.

And many reveal the number of reasons musicians are going vegan include health benefits. For starters, health may be a significant motivator. Growing research links meat, eggs, and dairy products to various diseases.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons Smith switched his diet. But as far as the rest of the members are concerned, it is still unclear.

What are Robert Smith’s favorite foods?

Robert Smith’s favorite foods are extremely hot Bangladeshi-style curries with prawns (shrimp), peanut butter sandwiches, and vegetarian dishes, which he occasionally enjoys with beer. 

The Cure’s front-man and founder, Robert Smith, is a foodie by heart and loves sharing his favorite recipes with his fans.

He is often seen in the kitchen creating his favorite recipes like prawn curry, cakes, elderflower champagne, and Mrs. Smith’s Salad Cream.

Robert’s love for food is shared by his wife, Mary Poole, who helps him out in the kitchen. The couple has been together since 1988. 

Read my recent article that discusses Mary and Robert’s relationship. Have they really been together since the ’80s and never broken up? Also, find out the song Robert dedicated to his wife.

Just click that link to read it on my site.

THE CURE - Robert Smith Interview on Festival Tour, Next Album ~ BBC Radio 6's Shaun Keaveny ~ 2020

Conclusion

The music industry is a profession that often demands musicians to travel without stopping. And when you are a famous band like The Cure, you cannot help but submerge in the experience of carrying on without proper sleep or food.

Robert Smith’s onstage life has been a topic of discussion, but millions of fans remain untouched by the artist’s offstage life. And many want to find out what he eats.

In real life, Robert is quite a shy person who loves to keep his personal life incredibly private and rarely appears in the media.

He has hinted at being a vegetarian in his book, but he also talks about his love of prawns (shrimp), which really makes him a pescatarian.

But his diet is still surprisingly healthy!


Photos that require attribution:

friday i’m in love by Drew de F Fawkes is licensed under CC2.0 and was cropped, edited, and had a text and graphic overlay added.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

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