Robert James Smith was born in Blackpool on 21 April 1959, the third of four children of Rita Mary (née Emmott) and James Alexander Smith. He came from a musical family; his father sang and his mother played the piano. Raised as a Catholic, he later became an atheist. When he was three years old, his family moved to Horley, where he attended St Francis' Primary School. When he was six, his family moved to Crawley, where he attended St Francis' Junior School. He later attended Notre Dame Middle School from 1970 to 1972, and St Wilfrid's Comprehensive School from 1972 to 1977. He and his younger sister Janet received piano lessons as children. Smith said, " was a piano prodigy, so sibling rivalry made me take up guitar because she couldn't get her fingers around the neck." He told Chris Heath of "Smash Hits" that from about 1966 (when Smith turned seven years old) his brother Richard, who is 13 years older than him, taught him "a few basic chords" on guitar.