The surprise appearance of The Cure’s Robert Smith during Olivia Rodrigo’s Glastonbury 2025 set has been widely celebrated by fans and critics alike, but few were as overcome with emotion as Rodrigo’s own guitarist, Arianna Powell.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Powell recalled the moment she first found out Smith would be joining them onstage for duets of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven” at Worthy Farm last month.
“We found out in Nashville when we were rehearsing for Bonnaroo, which ended up getting cancelled,” Powell said. “Stacy [Jones], our music director, came and told us, and was like, ‘This is very secret – you cannot tell anyone, but he’s going to be joining us.’ And I swear to God, I started crying. Like, I started tearing up.”
Powell, a longtime fan of The Cure, said the news hit her particularly hard because of her deep admiration for Smith’s guitar work. “I’m a huge fan, especially those guitar parts,” she shared. “I love, love, love the guitar parts, specifically in those songs, especially ‘Friday I’m in Love’. So I was just so stoked to get to actually play that with the artist.”
Beyond the onstage collaboration, Powell spoke about Smith’s generosity and warmth backstage. “He was so cool. He was leaving his dressing room door open for us to hang out. He wanted to talk and be social,” she said.
“Through conversations with him, he was just saying, ‘It’s just another show.’ And he was talking about how much he enjoys performing, and he loves it every time. That really inspired me and my energy for that night. Like, ‘Yeah, it’s just another show – and I love doing this.’ The collective energy of the band that day was really infectious.”
The performance also marked a milestone for Rodrigo, who has spent 2025 on a global tour supporting her sophomore album GUTS. The LP, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2023, has seen a resurgence in streams following her Glastonbury appearance, with “vampire” and “bad idea right?” climbing back into the upper reaches of the Billboard Global 200.