One of the music world's best-kept secrets broke open Saturday in Barcelona. Olivia Rodrigo brought The Cure's Robert Smith on stage at the Primavera Sound festival to premiere a new song called "What's Wrong With Me," confirming that the two artists have a full duet on her upcoming album.
According to Variety, Rodrigo's performance at the Spanish festival had itself been a near-surprise. She revealed she was on the lineup just five hours before she took the stage, posting the news on her Instagram Stories. The crowd did not know Smith was coming.
When she introduced the new song, Rodrigo told the audience, "It's really special to me for so many reasons, primarily because it's the first song I've ever had a feature on." She did not immediately say who the feature artist was or whether that person was at the festival. Then Smith appeared.
The collaboration had been known to a small circle. Industry insiders invited to a private listening session in Los Angeles weeks ago had heard the track, but were sworn to secrecy until Rodrigo chose to make the announcement herself.
The song had been hiding in plain sight, in a way. Rodrigo had already released a track called "Drop Dead," which name-checks The Cure in its lyrics, and then a second single from the new album simply titled "The Cure." Neither hinted that Smith would appear as a featured artist on a third, separate track.
The two had performed together before. Last summer at Glastonbury in the U.K., they joined forces on stage to play The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" and "Friday I'm in Love."
Smith was already in Barcelona for a different reason. The Cure headlined Primavera Sound on Friday night, playing 29 songs in the band's first concert in 18 months. That previous show, in November 2024, had been a full-album performance of their then-new record "Songs of a Lost World." Friday's set leaned heavily on classics, with only two songs from "Lost World" making the cut.
The new duet, "What's Wrong With Me," is described as a breezy pop song that sits in the "You Seem Pretty Sad" half of Rodrigo's upcoming album. Despite its upbeat musical tone, the lyrics deal with a narrator coming to terms with the fact that her relationship is the source of her unhappiness. Sample lyrics from the song include: "Went to the doctor and she said I was fine / Tried meditation with a bottle of wine / It's like somebody put a weight on my chest / I should talk to a friend, but I can't get out of bed / My head is spinning, and my stomach is sick / Say I'm in love, so it's hard to admit / I can't eat, I can't sleep / I think you're what's wrong with me."
Smith's name did not appear in the track listing when it was previously released. The title of the song was listed, but without any indication of his involvement.
Rodrigo's third album, "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love," is set for release next Friday.
