The Cure Releases ‘Boys Don’t Cry (86 Mix)’ on Streaming Platforms with New Remaster

The Cure dropped "Boys Don't Cry (86 Mix)" on streaming services with a 2026 remaster and an ATMOS mix. The track appeared on platforms on Jan. 30, after vanishing from streaming for decades.

A CD edition hit shelves on the same date. It contains remastered versions of "Plastic Passion," "Pill Box Tales," and "Do The Hansa." Physical vinyl pressings will arrive in April.

"Boys Don't Cry" first landed as a single in the UK on Jun. 12, 1979. Lead singer Robert Smith wrote it with bassist Michael Dempsey and drummer and keyboardist Lol Tolhurst. It showed up on Boys Don't Cry, the North American version of Three Imaginary Boys.

The 1986 remix pushed it into the top 40 across Australia, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. A music video featured actors Mark Heatley, Christian Andrews, and Russell Ormes, with band members appearing as shadowy figures behind a curtain.

In 2019, Smith spoke to Rolling Stone in an interview. He said, "I was singing that at Glastonbury a couple of days ago and I realized that it has a very contemporary resonance with all the rainbow stripes and stuff flying in the crowd. ... In no way is it similar, but when I was growing up, there was peer pressure on you to conform to be a certain way. And as an English boy at the time, you're encouraged not to show your emotion to any degree."  

"Boys Don't Cry" is the most-streamed piece in The Cure's catalog. The group performed it live for the 1000th time at Wembley in London in Dec. 2022. The piece has shown up in TV shows and movies. One film even borrowed its title from the track.