One of pop’s best-kept secrets of 2026 out, as the news is out that Olivia Rodrigo and the Cure‘s Robert Smith have a full-on duet on her forthcoming album, which is less than a week away from release. The reveal came in the form of Rodrigo bringing Smith out at the Primavera Sound festival partway into the live premiere of the song, “What’s Wrong With Me.”
The presence of Smith as a full vocal partner on the tune had been known to some industry insiders who were invited to a recent listening session for the album in L.A., but attendees were sworn to secrecy until Rodrigo revealed the news herself.
“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 in introducing the new song to the crowd, without immediately letting on who did the feature or whether they were there.
Her love for the Cure recently evidenced itself in Rodrigo first releasing “Drop Dead,” which includes a mention of the band in the lyrics, and then releasing a second single from the new album that was actually called “The Cure” — neither with hint that Smith would be putting in a prominent cameo on an entirely different third track.
It was not the first on-stage collaboration between the two mutual admirers, as they got toether to perform “Just Like Heaven” and “Friday I’m in Love” at the Glastonbury festival last summer in the U.K.
