Olivia Rodrigo reveals if new song 'The Cure' is related to 1976 rock band

Olivia Rodrigo has confirmed that her new single The Cure has no connection to the legendary British rock band of the same name, though she was quick to make clear that her admiration for them is very real.

Speaking on the Elvis Duran Show on Thursday, 21 May, the 23-year-old was asked directly whether the band behind Boys Don't Cry and Friday I'm in Love had inspired the track, which is out on Friday, 22 May.

"Honestly, this song, The Cure, has nothing to do with the band," she said. "Although I love it so much, it just is a happy coincidence."

What she did reveal is that The Cure's frontman Robert Smith, 67, is someone she considers a genuine friend. 

"I love him. We talk like, every week. He's amazing," she said, a detail that will surprise precisely no one who caught her Glastonbury set in June 2025, when she brought Smith out on stage and the pair performed Just Like Heaven and Friday I'm in Love together in front of an enormous crowd.

Smith has been equally warm about the friendship on his end. 

Writing to British Vogue in April, he described buying both of Rodrigo's albums on CD and finding himself won over despite admitting they weren't quite aimed at his demographic. 

He also revealed that the two have spent time in the studio together and that she calls him regularly to chat about clothes and fashion. "I can't wait to hear what she does next," he wrote.

As for the song itself, Rodrigo described it as a personal milestone. 

"It's a new perspective that I haven't had the maturity to express before in earlier albums," she said, adding that it is one of her favourites she has ever written.

The Cure follows the previously released Drop Dead and both tracks will appear on her forthcoming album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, due out on 12 June.