The comperes for Robert Smith’s Teenage Cancer Trust gigs at London’s Royal Albert Hall have been announced, along with a surprise artist and details of official livestreams for the events. Find all the details below.
Smith is the curator of the beloved charity concert series this year, replacing The Who frontman and charity patron Roger Daltrey. The Cure have long been supporters of TCT, having played now-legendary fundraising shows for the charity in 2006 and 2014.
- READ MORE: On the cover – Robert Smith on 40 years of The Cure
The stacked line-up for the 2026 edition was revealed last December. Performers include Garbage, Wolf Alice, Manic Street Preachers, Chvrches, My Bloody Valentine, Elbow and Placebo. See the full schedule below, and find any remaining tickets here.
Today (Friday March 20), organisers have confirmed that celebrated Bosnian composer and accordionist Nihad Hrustanbegovic will be playing around the historic venue each night, too.
Hrustanbegovic has released 10 studio albums, and played more than 1,000 solo concerts in Europe – including Croatia’s Art Janez Days event under the patronage of Smith.
The bill of comperes has also been announced. These are BBC Radio’s Shaun Keaveny (at Elbow’s headline gig), 6 Music’s Mary-Anne Hobbs (Mogwai), Radio X’s John Kennedy (Manic Street Preachers), NTS’ Flo Dill (My Bloody Valentine), BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders (Wolf Alice), Absolute Radio’s Sarah Champion and Ben Burrell (Robert Smith’s Comedy Favourites) and Danielle Perry (Garbage and Placebo).
Elbow and Manic Street Preachers’ full sets will be live streamed via Player+ for £15.99, with all profits going to Teenage Cancer Trust. “We recommend purchasing access to each live global broadcast before the show,” a listing reads. You can do so here.
In addition, young people around the country benefiting from TCT’s vital services will be able to watch the concerts live and for free.
The full list of shows for Teenage Cancer Trust at London’s Royal Albert Hall 2026 is:
MARCH
Monday 23: Elbow and MRCY
Tuesday 24: Robert Smith’s Comedy Favourites – Maisie Adam, Bridget Christie, Jack Dee, Andy Hamilton, Dom Joly, Miles Jupp, Athena Kugblenu, Stewart Lee and Dara Ó Briain
Wednesday 25: Mogwai, Craven Faults and Annika Kilkenny
Thursday 26: Manic Street Preachers and The Joy Formidable
Friday 27: My Bloody Valentine and Chvrches (stripped back performance)
Saturday 28: Garbage and Placebo (rare, stripped back performance)
Sunday 29: Wolf Alice and Nilüfer Yanya
“Teenage Cancer Trust does absolutely amazing work, and I am very proud they asked me to be ‘Cureator’ of their March 2026 concerts at the RAH,” said Smith. “I wanted to make it a truly unforgettable, unmissable week – a run of shows to dream about – and I am so grateful to all the artists who accepted my invitation to perform.
“These will be very special events; every band, both headliners and special guests, and every comedian too, is either legendary or at the top of their game… indeed in most cases, they are both! It is going to be a fabulous seven nights, and I can hardly wait to experience it all. See you there!”
Last month saw the Manics share a clip of them rehearsing a cover of The Cure’s ‘Close To Me’ ahead of their slot at the TCT series. Elsewhere, Shirley Manson has spoken to NME about Garbage’s gig – which will follow a stripped-back set from Placebo.
“I’m obsessed with Placebo, I really love them, and we’re delighted to be paired with them,” the frontwoman said. “I’m particularly touched because they could be headlining the show on their own terms and they very graciously took the decision to play an opening acoustic set.
“I love them dearly. I think Brian [Molko, frontman] is a very rare kind of frontperson.”
Manson also said she had “loved The Cure for as long as I can remember, since I was about 14-years-old”, adding: “To get one of those famous emails from someone I admire so much was gobsmacking, really […] We didn’t really need any introduction and all of us were immediately like, ‘Yes, we are going to do this’.”
Fans had been hoping that The Cure themselves would announce a performance for the TCT series, or a London gig as part of their 2026 summer UK and European tour. However, a date in the capital has not yet been confirmed.
Meanwhile, The Cure, The 1975, Geese, Fontaines D.C., Nick Cave and more have contributed prints to a new ‘Good Energy’ exhibition held by Teenage Cancer Trust.
The Cure won their first-ever Grammy last month for their acclaimed 2024 album, ‘Songs Of A Lost World’. Smith has teased that he has been “in the studio” with Olivia Rodrigo, too.
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