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Robert Smith turned down working with The Rolling Stones at first: "I wasn’t really prepared for it"
2 July 2026, 10:59 | Updated: 2 July 2026, 11:18
The Cure frontman admitted that he wasn't really "prepared" for the offer and expected to just hang out with the band's producer Andrew Wyatt and "get drunk".
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Robert Smith initially said no to working with The Rolling Stones because he didn't feel prepared.
The Cure frontman contributed to the band's recent single Divine Intervention and which is taken from their forthcoming album Foreign Tongues, but he admitted when he was initially invited to the band's studio session by their producer, he only expected to "get drunk" with them.
Recalling the moment to Mojo magazine, the Friday I'm In Love singer revealed: "Andrew Watt and I have kind of exchanged online conversations and phone conversations over the last few years, but we’d never met up.
He went on: "Every time he’d wash up in London with some big cheese or other, either I wasn’t around or it just didn’t seem the right time to hang out."
Smith went on to reveal that Wyatt reached out to him as the Stones were coming to the end of their sessions and asked him if he'd like to come up and grab a "cold beer" at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick.
“He said that 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, You know, That’s OK.”
The Rolling Stones - Divine Intervention (Official Audio)
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Despite the invite, the Pictures of You singer still had his doubts over attending, because he knew all to well how random guests bursting in could ruin the the atmosphere of the studio, but learned via an assistant that Stones frontman Mick Jagger was only too happy for him to join.
Smith goes on to describe walking in and seeing Jagger still laying down vocals and he found himself drinking more of the "refreshments" and getting making "more and more absurd suggestions".
However, he wasn't quite ready for Jagger to ask him if he wanted to jump on the record and his response was rather surprising.
He recalled: “And then out of nowhere [Jagger] said, ‘Do you fancy doing something on the album?’ And I was like, Whoa, hang on!
"And he said, ‘Oh, play a bit of guitar…’ And I was like, Well… I wasn’t really prepared for it," admitted the rocker - who also provided provided synth and backing vocals on Never Wanna Lose You.
“And so I, much to everyone’s astonishment, I said, No, no thanks, I can’t do that. I went up there expecting just to get drunk, really. And I wasn’t expecting to play on the Rolling Stones album.”
Once Jagger left the studio and some time had passed, Smith regained his decided to listen to some of the tracks after all.
"And then time elapsed and 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,” he continued. “So I just started playing and, yeah, one thing led to another.”
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The Rolling Stones' Foreign Tongues album is released on Friday 10th July.
From the record comes Rough And Twisted—their surprise physical single, which was released under the band's pseudonym The Cockroaches — Jealous Lover and In The Stars, which sees the band de-aged as their younger selves.
The Rolling Stones - In The Stars (Official Video)
See the album's artwork and tracklist below and pre-order and pre-save the album here.
The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues tracklist:
- Rough And Twisted
- In The Stars
- Jealous Love
- Mr. Charm
- Divine Intervention
- Ringing Hollow
- Never Wanna Lose You
- Hit Me In The Head
- You Know I’m No Good
- Some Of Us
- Covered In You
- Side Effects
- Back In Your Life
- Beautiful Delilah
Foreign Tongues will be available on a wide range of formats, including CD, deluxe CD editions, cassette, multiple vinyl variants (standard and limited colour pressings), exclusive retailer editions, and special box sets, alongside the single ‘In The Stars’ on CD and vinyl formats.
Watch the trailer for the album below:
The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues | Album Trailer
The album also sees the trio joined by regular collaborators Darryl Jones, Matt Clifford and Steve Jordan and includes a special appearance from their late drummer Charlie Watts, captured during one of his final recording sessions before his passing in 2021.
Additional contributions come from an impressive line-up of guest artists, including Steve Winwood, Beatles legend Paul McCartney and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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