The Cure's debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979), along with several early singles, placed the band at the forefront of the emerging post-punk and new wave movements that were gaining prominence in the United Kingdom.

Smith drove the band's music toward a more pop-oriented sound with the release of their fourth album Pornography (1982), leading them to worldwide mainstream success.

[4] They called themselves Malice and rehearsed David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Alex Harvey songs in a local church hall.

[5] By late April 1976, Ceccagno and the other two members had left, and Tolhurst (drums), Martin Creasy (vocals), and Porl Thompson (guitar) had joined the band.

In January 1977, following Creasy's departure, and increasingly influenced by the emergence of punk rock, Malice's remaining members became known as Easy Cure – after a song written by Tolhurst.

On 19 February 1978 they were joined at the Rocket for the first time by a support band from Horley called Lockjaw, featuring bassist Simon Gallup.

"[10] On 22 April 1978, Easy Cure played their last gig at the Montefiore Institute Hall (in the Three Bridges neighbourhood of Crawley)[13] before guitarist Porl Thompson was dropped from the lineup because his lead-guitar style was at odds with Smith's growing preference for minimalist songwriting.

[17] The Cure released their debut single "Killing an Arab" in December 1978 on the Small Wonder label as a stopgap until Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor.

The Cure then embarked as the support band for Siouxsie and the Banshees' Join Hands promotional tour of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales between August and October.

The tour saw Smith pull double-duty each night by performing with the Cure and as the guitarist with the Banshees when John McKay quit the group in Aberdeen.

[28] Included with cassette copies of Faith was an instrumental soundtrack for Carnage Visors, an animated film shown in place of an opening act for the band's 1981 Picture Tour.

"[38] Parry was concerned that the album did not have a hit song for radio play and instructed Smith and producer Phil Thornalley to polish the track "The Hanging Garden" for release as a single.

[28] The release of Pornography was followed by the Fourteen Explicit Moments tour, in which the band finally dropped the anti-image angle and first adopted their signature look of big, towering hair, and smeared lipstick on their faces.

"[55] In 1985, the new line-up of Smith, Tolhurst, Gallup, Williams, and Thompson (now on guitar and keyboards) released The Head on the Door, an album that managed to bind together the optimistic and pessimistic aspects of the band's music between which they had previously shifted.

Following the album and world tour, the band released the singles compilation Standing on a Beach in three formats (each with a different track listing and a specific title) in 1986.

After the album's release, the band recruited Roger O'Donnell, previously the touring keyboardist for the Psychedelic Furs and a longtime friend of Williams, to supplement the work of Tolhurst while allowing Thompson to focus on guitar.

[81][82] Wild Mood Swings, finally released in 1996, was poorly received compared with previous albums and marked the end of the band's commercial peak.

[84] In 1998 the Cure contributed the song "More Than This" to the soundtrack for The X-Files film, as well as a cover of "World in My Eyes" for the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses.

From 24 July to 29 August, the Cure headlined the Curiosa concert tour of North America, which was formatted as a traveling festival and also featured Interpol, the Rapture, Mogwai, Muse, and Thursday, among other groups.

Previously O'Donnell said he had only found out about the band's upcoming tour dates via a fan site and added, "It was sad to find out after nearly twenty years the way I did, but then I should have expected no less or more.

"[97] The remaining members of the band – Smith, Gallup and Cooper – made several appearances as a trio[91] before Porl Thompson returned to the Cure's lineup for their summer 2005 tour.

[124] For Record Store Day 2018, the Cure released a remastered, deluxe edition of Mixed Up, along with a sequel titled Torn Down featuring 16 new remixes all created by Robert Smith.

"[126] In an interview published on 5 July in NME, he noted that the band would be re-recording three or four songs in August 2019 but that, "I feel intent on it being a 2019 release and would be extremely bitter if it isn't.

[129] Later that same month, the band issued 40 Live: CURÆTION-25 + Anniversary, a Blu-ray, DVD and CD box set featuring their Meltdown and Hyde Park performances from 2018 in their entireties.

"[158] While typically viewed as producers of dark and gloomy music, the Cure have also yielded a number of upbeat songs and been part of the new wave movement.

[159] Spin has said "the Cure have always been an either/or sort of band: either ... Robert Smith is wallowing in gothic sadness or he's licking sticky-sweet cotton-candy pop off his lipstick-stained fingers.

"[161] The Cure's primary musical traits have been listed as "dominant, melodic bass lines; whiny, strangulated vocals; and a lyric obsession with existential, almost literary despair.

Artists who have cited their influence by or appreciation for the Cure include Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins,[171] Slowdive,[172] Ride,[173] My Bloody Valentine,[174] Miki Berenyi of Lush,[175] Britt Daniel of Spoon,[176] Beach House,[177] Chvrches,[178] Blink-182,[178] Interpol,[179] Manic Street Preachers,[180] AFI,[181] Deftones,[182] Placebo,[183] Mogwai,[184] Korn,[185] Foals,[186] Drab Majesty,[187] Converge,[188] Tim Kasher of Cursive,[189] Geoff Rickly of Thursday,[190] and Alvvays.

[194][195] The members named by the Rock Hall for induction as part of the band were Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Michael Dempsey, Reeves Gabrels, Simon Gallup, Roger O'Donnell, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst, and Boris Williams.

The awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).