The Cure returns with extensive US tour

Gloomy rock legends The Cure on Tuesday announced a 25-date tour of North America, dispelling persistent speculation of retirement.The English band, who last released an album in 2008, has not performed this year and played select dates in 2014 including charity shows in London.

The Cure announced the band would play 25 shows in North America in 2016 but initially revealed only three dates -- in May and June in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York's Madison Square Garden.

Singer and guitarist Robert Smith, 56, is famous for his on-stage stamina, often playing for more than three hours with minimal interruption.

Led by the palm tree-haired Smith's wailing voice, The Cure helped shape the genre of Goth rock especially with the 1982 album "Pornography" which was dominated by thundering dark chords and suicidal lyricism.

But The Cure's output since then has shown -- in the title of one album -- "wild mood swings" with the band winning a popular following for giddy tunes such as "Friday I'm In Love."

Fans have for years speculated that each tour or album would mark an end for the influential band.

Smith said in interviews in 2014 that the band had recorded material for a new album tentatively called "4:14 Scream" but was unsure whether to put it out.

The songs came from sessions for the last album, "4:13 Dream," which Smith said was meant to be a double album but was condensed at the insistence of the band's label.

Since then, Porl Thompson, with Smith a guitarist and founding member of The Cure, left the band to devote himself to painting.

Smith has recently pursued musical projects on his own including a cover of a song by the Scottish post-punk band Twilight Sad, which was chosen to open for The Cure on the upcoming tour.