80s rock god claims he’s ‘got the only nocturnal sheep in Britain’ in baffling statement

Robert Smith, frontman of The Cure, has claimed that he is the owner of ‘the only nocturnal sheep in Britain,’

Smith, 65, has been known over the years for his vampiric aesthetic, but this latest claim may be his spookiest yet.

The revelation came during an interview with Jo Whiley for BBC Radio 2, part of press the band was doing ahead of The Cure’s intimate shows at the BBC Radio Theatre.

With a live session for Huw Stephens on 6 Music and another for the ‘Radio 2 In Concert’ series, Smith has been sharing more of himself with his fans in the lead up to the release of the band’s new album.

Smith told Whiley that he’s determined to train his sheep to operate on a nocturnal schedule in order to match his own lifestyle.

‘Apparently, you can’t train sheep, but I’m determined,’ he explained, adding that he’s already succeeded in training one sheep to shake hands. His nocturnal sheep project could well become, as Smith wryly noted, ‘another viral moment.’

He admitted that forming a band was partly a way to avoid the constraints of a traditional workday, as he’s always naturally preferred to be awake at night.

‘My reason for being in a band was primarily so I didn’t have to get up for work,’ he shared.

Now, he heads to bed around sunrise each morning.

For Smith, the night is a space for creativity and solitude: ‘The others all get up, they’re all daytime people, and I honestly go to bed at like… I do listen to the Breakfast Show and I do watch the sun come out, and then I go to bed,” he explained.

Although he finds comfort in his nocturnal routine, January’s lack of daylight does take its toll. ‘If you think I’m miserable, God, January!’ he laughed.

The BBC gigs this week also marked a rare opportunity to see The Cure in a more intimate setting.

These concerts come just ahead of the band’s highly anticipated return to The Troxy in London, likely their last show before a planned tour in autumn 2025.

Songs of a Lost World, the band’s 14th album and a follow-up to 4:13 Dream, released in 2008, is already receiving rave reviews ahead of its release.

Smith also acknowledged in the interview that The Cure’s 50th anniversary in 2028 looms large.

He said planning for milestones can cause a lot of anxiety: ‘The 2018 one, I started to think about in late 2016, thinking, “I’ve got a year and a half, it’s easy!” And yet I still didn’t manage to get there in time,’ he recalled.

Smith’s latest anecdotes come in the wake of the frenzy the band’s announcement of their new album caused.

The Close To You hitmakers announced their first music in 16 years by placing a single poster on the outside wall of the Crawley pub, where they played their first gig in 1978.

The poster soon went viral online, and photos showed a shiny-looking black poster on the grey wall of The Railway pub in Sussex.

While the band soon confirmed the news on social media, the poster read – in tiny writing – the name of the record: Songs of a Lost World.

The band’s long-time keyboardist Roger O’Donnell earlier this month revealed he was diagnosed with a ‘very rare and aggressive form’ of blood cancer a year ago.

Roger, 68, pulled out of the band’s Latin America tour due to ‘health reasons’ last November prior to revealing the diagnosis.

In a social media statement, the band said:  ‘We are sure you will join with us in wishing him the speediest of recoveries.’

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