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Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''.
Called the "punk poet laureate", Smith fused rock and poetry in her work. Her most widely known song is " Because the Night", which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1978 and number five in the UK. In 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the '' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' by the
French Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...
. In 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On November 17, 2010, Smith won the National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
for her memoir ''Just Kids
''Just Kids'' is a memoir by Patti Smith, published on January 19, 2010, documenting her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.
"I didn't write it to be cathartic," she noted. "I wrote it because Robert asked me to… Our relationship w ...
''. The book fulfilled a promise she had made to her former long-time partner Robert Mapplethorpe. She placed 47th in ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine's list of 100 Greatest Artists published in December 2010 and was also a recipient of the 2011 Polar Music Prize
The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, best known as the manager of the Swedish band ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The award is annually given to one contemporar ...
.
Early life
Patricia Lee Smith was born on December 30, 1946, at Grant Hospital in Chicago to Beverly Smith, a jazz singer turned waitress, and Grant Smith, a machinist at aHoneywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
plant. The family was of part Irish ancestry and Patti was the eldest of four children, with siblings Linda, Kimberly, and Todd. When Smith was four, the family moved from Chicago to Germantown, Philadelphia
Germantown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is ...
, before heading to Pitman, New Jersey
Pitman is a borough in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 8,780, a drop of 231 from the 2010 census count of 9,011,Deptford Township, New Jersey.
At this early age, Smith was exposed to her first records, including ''Shrimp Boats'' by
In 1973, Patti Smith teamed up again with musician and rock archivist Lenny Kaye, and later added
"Patti Smith"
''
Later that same year, she performed spoken poetry on "I Wake Up Screaming" from Ray Manzarek's '' The Whole Thing Started with Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control'' album.
In March 1975 the Patti Smith Group started a two-month weekend residency at
Before the release of ''Wave'', Smith, now separated from long-time partner
On July 10, 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the 
Smith was the subject of a 2008 documentary film by Steven Sebring titled '' Patti Smith: Dream of Life''. A live album by Patti Smith and
In 2015,
In 1993, Smith contributed "Memorial Tribute (Live)" to the AIDS-Benefit Album ''
Edited by and with introduction by Patti Smith * ''Land 250'' * ''Trois'' * ''Great Lyricists''; foreword by Rick Moody * ''
Review: Patti Smith's ''M Train'' reckons with life, while ''Collected Lyrics'' shows her living energy as words
, ''
I Will Always Live Like Peter Pan.
70 min interview from the Louisiana Literature festival 2012. Video by Louisiana Channel.
Patti Smith: Advice to the young.
Filmed at Louisiana Literature festival 2012. Video interview by Louisiana Channel.
Patti Smith: First encounters with Robert Mapplethorpe.
Filmed at Louisiana Literature festival 2012. Video interview by Louisiana Channel. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Patti 1946 births 20th-century American artists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American artists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American poets 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women artists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American women writers American contraltos American women rock singers American women singer-songwriters American human rights activists Women human rights activists American punk rock guitarists American punk rock singers American rock songwriters American spoken word artists American women poets American women memoirists American memoirists Arista Records artists Art rock musicians Columbia Records artists Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Women punk rock singers Former Jehovah's Witnesses Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Michigan Guitarists from New Jersey Guitarists from New York City Living people National Book Award winners Outlaw poets . People from Deptford Township, New Jersey People from St. Clair Shores, Michigan People from Woodbury, New Jersey Poets from Michigan Poets from New Jersey Poets from New York (state) Postmodern writers Protopunk musicians Punk poets Rolling Stone people Rowan University alumni Singers from Chicago Singer-songwriters from Michigan Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Singers from New York City The Minus 5 members 20th-century American women guitarists American people of Irish descent Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singer-songwriters from Illinois nds:Patti Smith
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
, Patience and Prudence's ''The Money Tree'', and '' Another Side of Bob Dylan'', which her mother gave to her. Smith graduated from Deptford Township High School
Deptford Township High School (also Deptford High School) is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in Deptford Township, in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state o ...
in 1964 and went to work in a factory.Smith, Patti (2010). ''Just Kids'', p. 20. HarperCollins, New York. . She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on April 26, 1967, and placed her for adoption.
Career
1967–1973: New York
In 1967, she leftGlassboro State College
Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. It was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents.
...
(now Rowan University
Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. It was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents.
...
) and moved to Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in New York City. There she met photographer Robert Mapplethorpe while working at a bookstore with friend and poet Janet Hamill. She and Mapplethorpe had an intense romantic relationship, which was tumultuous as the pair struggled with poverty and Mapplethorpe's sexuality. Smith considers Mapplethorpe to be one of the most important people in her life, and in her book ''Just Kids
''Just Kids'' is a memoir by Patti Smith, published on January 19, 2010, documenting her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.
"I didn't write it to be cathartic," she noted. "I wrote it because Robert asked me to… Our relationship w ...
'' refers to him as "the artist of my life." Mapplethorpe's photographs of her became the covers for the Patti Smith Group albums, and they remained lifelong friends until Mapplethorpe's death in 1989. Her book and album '' The Coral Sea'' is an homage to the life of Mapplethorpe and ''Just Kids'' tells the story of their relationship. She also wrote essays for several of Mapplethorpe's books, starting from one, at his request, for his posthumous ''Flowers''.
She went to Paris with her sister in 1969, where she started busking and doing performance art. When Smith returned to Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, she lived in the Hotel Chelsea
The Hotel Chelsea (also the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea) is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of ...
with Mapplethorpe; they frequented Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...
. Smith provided the spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
soundtrack for Sandy Daley's art film ''Robert Having His Nipple Pierced'', starring Mapplethorpe. The same year Smith appeared with Wayne County in Jackie Curtis
Jackie Curtis (February 19, 1947 – May 15, 1985) was an American actress, writer, singer, and Warhol superstar.
Early life and career
Jackie Curtis was born in New York City to John Holder and Jenevive Uglialoro. She had one sibling, half-b ...
's play ''Femme Fatale''. Afterward, she also starred in Tony Ingrassia's play ''Island''. As a member of the St. Mark's Poetry Project, she spent the early 1970s painting, writing, and performing. On February 10, 1971, she gave her first public poetry performance opening for Gerard Malanga
Gerard Joseph Malanga (born March 20, 1943) is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, actor, curator and archivist.
Early life
Malanga was born in the Bronx in 1943, the only child of Italian immigrant parents. In 1959, at the beginning of ...
at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery she was accompanied by Lenny Kaye on electric guitar.
Later in the year she performed – for one night only – in ''Cowboy Mouth
Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...
'', a play that she co-wrote with Sam Shepard
Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...
. (The published play's notes call for "a man who looks like a coyote and a woman who looks like a crow".) She wrote several poems, "for sam shepard" and "Sam Shepard: 9 Random Years (7 + 2)" about her relationship with Shepard.
Smith was briefly considered for the lead singer position in Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla". The band h ...
. She contributed lyrics to several of the band's songs, including "Debbie Denise" (inspired by her poem "In Remembrance of Debbie Denise"), "Baby Ice Dog", "Career of Evil", " Fire of Unknown Origin", "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" (on which she performs duet vocals), and "Shooting Shark". She was romantically involved at the time with the band's keyboardist, Allen Lanier
Allen Glover Lanier (; June 25, 1946 – August 14, 2013) was an American musician who played keyboards and rhythm guitar. He was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult.
Lanier wrote several songs for Blue Öyster Cult albums, including "T ...
. During these years, Smith also wrote rock journalism pieces, some of which were published in ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' and ''Creem
''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential crit ...
''.
1973–1979: Patti Smith Group
In 1973, Patti Smith teamed up again with musician and rock archivist Lenny Kaye, and later added Richard Sohl
Richard Arthur Sohl (May 26, 1953June 3, 1990) was an American pianist, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work with the Patti Smith Group. He also played with Iggy Pop, Nina Hagen and Elliott Murphy. He died on June 3, 1990, of a hear ...
on piano. The trio developed into a full band with the addition of Ivan Kral
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...
on guitar and bass, and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums. Kral was a refugee from Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
who had moved to the United States in 1966 with his parents, who were diplomats. After the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
in 1968, he decided not to return. Financed by Sam Wagstaff
Samuel Jones Wagstaff Jr. (November 4, 1921 – January 14, 1987) was an American art curator and collector as well as the artistic mentor and benefactor of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (who was also his lifetime companion) and poet- punk ro ...
, the band recorded their first single, "Hey Joe
"Hey Joe" is an American song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics tell of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooti ...
/ Piss Factory", in 1974. The A-side was a version of the rock standard with the addition of a spoken word piece about fugitive heiress Patty Hearst ("Patty Hearst, you're standing there in front of the Symbionese Liberation Army
The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small, American far-left organization active between 1973 and 1975; it claimed to be a vanguard movement. The FBI and American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the ...
flag with your legs spread, I was wondering were you gettin' it every night from a black revolutionary man and his women ..."). A court later heard that Hearst had been confined against her will, and had been repeatedly threatened with execution and raped. The B-side describes the helpless alienation Smith had felt while working on a factory assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in se ...
and the salvation she dreams of achieving by escaping to New York. In a 1996 interview which discusses artistic influences during her younger years, Smith said, "I had devoted so much of my girlish daydreams to Rimbaud. Rimbaud was like my boyfriend."Moore, Thurston"Patti Smith"
''
BOMB Magazine
''Bomb'' (stylized in all caps as ''BOMB'') is an American arts magazine edited by artists and writers, published quarterly in print and daily online. It is composed primarily of interviews between creative people working in a variety of disciplin ...
'' Winter, 1996. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
Later that same year, she performed spoken poetry on "I Wake Up Screaming" from Ray Manzarek's '' The Whole Thing Started with Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control'' album.
In March 1975 the Patti Smith Group started a two-month weekend residency at CBGB
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...
with Television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
. They were spotted by Clive Davis who signed them to Arista Records. Later in the year they recorded their first album, '' Horses'', produced by John Cale amid some tension. The album fused punk rock and spoken poetry and begins with a cover of Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
's " Gloria", and Smith's opening words: "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" (an excerpt from "Oath", one of her early poems). The austere cover photograph by Mapplethorpe has become one of rock's classic images. As the popularity of punk rock grew, the Patti Smith Group toured the United States and Europe. The rawer sound of the group's second album, ''Radio Ethiopia
''Radio Ethiopia,'' the second studio album by the Patti Smith Group, was released in October 1976 through Arista Records.
Background
''Radio Ethiopia'' was the follow-up record to Smith's widely acclaimed debut ''Horses''. In interviews surroun ...
'', reflected this. Considerably less accessible than ''Horses'', ''Radio Ethiopia'' initially received poor reviews. However, several of its songs have stood the test of time, and Smith still performs them regularly in concert. She has said that ''Radio Ethiopia'' was influenced by the band MC5.
On January 23, 1977, while touring in support of ''Radio Ethiopia'', Smith accidentally danced off a high stage in Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, and fell 15 feet into a concrete orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
, breaking several neck vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...
e. The injury required a period of rest and an intensive round of physical therapy, during which time she was able to reassess, re-energize and reorganize her life.
The Patti Smith Group produced two further albums before the end of the 1970s. ''Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
'' (1978) was her most commercially successful record, containing the single " Because the Night" co-written with Bruce Springsteen. ''Wave
In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (re ...
'' (1979) was less successful, although the songs "Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
" and "Dancing Barefoot
"Dancing Barefoot" is a rock song written by Patti Smith and Ivan Král, and released as a second single from the Patti Smith Group's 1979 album ''Wave''. According to the album sleeve, the song was dedicated to women such as Amedeo Modigliani ...
" both received commercial airplay.
1980–1995: Marriage
Before the release of ''Wave'', Smith, now separated from long-time partner Allen Lanier
Allen Glover Lanier (; June 25, 1946 – August 14, 2013) was an American musician who played keyboards and rhythm guitar. He was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult.
Lanier wrote several songs for Blue Öyster Cult albums, including "T ...
, met Fred "Sonic" Smith
Frederick Dewey Smith (September 14, 1948 – November 4, 1994), known professionally as Fred "Sonic" Smith, was an American guitarist, best known as a member of the influential and political Detroit rock band MC5. At age 31, he married and rai ...
, former guitar player for Detroit rock band MC5 and his own Sonic's Rendezvous Band
Sonic's Rendezvous Band (or SRB) was an American rock and roll band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, forming in 1974, featuring veterans of the 1960s Detroit rock scene.
Background
Sonic's Rendezvous Band came from the ashes of four Mic ...
, who adored poetry as much as she did. ''Wave''s "Dancing Barefoot" (inspired by Jeanne Hébuterne
Jeanne Hébuterne (; 6 April 1898 – 26 January 1920) was a French painter and art model best known as the frequent subject and common-law wife of the artist Amedeo Modigliani. She took her own life the day after Modigliani died, and is now bu ...
and her tragic love for Amedeo Modigliani) and "Frederick" were both dedicated to him. The running joke at the time was that she married Fred only because she would not have to change her name. They had a son, Jackson (b. 1982), who would go on to marry The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...
drummer, Meg White
Megan Martha White (born December 10, 1974) is an American former musician and singer who was the drummer of Detroit rock duo The White Stripes. Her music career began when, on a whim, she played on her future White Stripes bandmate Jack White' ...
, in 2009; and a daughter, Jesse Paris (b. 1987), who is also a musician and composer.
Through most of the 1980s Smith was in semi-retirement from music, living with her family north of Detroit in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. In June 1988, she released the album '' Dream of Life'', which included the song " People Have the Power". Fred Smith died on November 4, 1994, of a heart attack. Shortly afterward, Patti faced the unexpected death of her brother Todd.
When her son Jackson turned 14, Smith decided to move back to New York. After the impact of these deaths, her friends Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence.
Pos ...
of R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
and Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
(whom she had known since her early years in New York) urged her to go back out on the road. She toured briefly with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
in December 1995 (chronicled in a book of photographs by Stipe).
1996–2003: Re-emergence
In 1996, Smith worked with her long-time colleagues to record '' Gone Again,'' featuring "About a Boy", a tribute to Kurt Cobain. That same year she collaborated with Stipe on " E-Bow the Letter", a song on R.E.M.'s ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi
''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was their fifth major-label release for Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia, and the following day in ...
,'' which she has also performed live with the band. After the release of ''Gone Again,'' Patti Smith recorded two new albums: ''Peace and Noise
''Peace and Noise'' is the seventh studio album by Patti Smith, released on September 30, 1997, by Arista Records.
Critical reception
''Peace and Noise'' received generally favorable reviews from critics, ranking No. 29 in ''The Village Voice ...
'' in 1997 (with the single "1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
", about the invasion of Tibet) and '' Gung Ho'' in 2000 (with songs about Ho Chi Minh
(: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...
and Smith's late father). Songs "1959" and " Glitter in Their Eyes" were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. A box set of her work up to that time, '' The Patti Smith Masters,'' came out in 1996, and 2002 saw the release of '' Land (1975–2002),'' a two-CD compilation that includes a cover of Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
's "When Doves Cry
"When Doves Cry" is a song by American musician Prince, and the lead single from his sixth studio album '' Purple Rain''. According to the DVD commentary of the film '' Purple Rain'' (1984), Prince was asked by director Albert Magnoli to write a ...
". Smith's solo art exhibition '' Strange Messenger'' was hosted at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh on September 28, 2002.
2004–2009
On April 27, 2004, Patti Smith released '' Trampin''', which included several songs about motherhood, partly in tribute to Smith's mother, who had died two years before. It was her first album on Columbia Records, soon to become a sister label to her previous home Arista Records. Smith curated the Meltdown festival in London on June 25, 2005, the penultimate event being the first live performance of ''Horses'' in its entirety. GuitaristTom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New York City rock band Television.
Biography
Verlaine was born Thomas Miller in Denville, New Jersey and ...
took Oliver Ray's place. This live performance was released later in the year as '' Horses/Horses''.
On July 10, 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...
. In addition to Smith's influence on rock music, the Minister also noted her appreciation of Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...
. In August 2005, Smith gave a literary lecture about the poems of Arthur Rimbaud and William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
. On October 15, 2006, Patti Smith performed at the CBGB
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...
nightclub, with a 3½-hour ''tour de force'' to close out Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's music venue. She took the stage at 9:30 p.m. (EDT) and closed for the night (and forever for the venue) at a few minutes after 1:00 am, performing her song "Elegie", and finally reading a list of punk rock musicians and advocates who had died in the previous years.
Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007. She dedicated her award to the memory of her late husband, Fred, and gave a performance of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
staple "Gimme Shelter
"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singe ...
". As the closing number of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Smith's "People Have the Power" was used for the big celebrity jam that always ends the program. "Gimme Shelter" appeared on her tenth album, '' Twelve'', an all-covers album issued in April 2007 on the Columbia label.
From November 2006 to January 2007, an exhibition called 'Sur les Traces' at Trolley Gallery, London, featured polaroid prints taken by Patti Smith and donated to Trolley to raise awareness and funds for the publication of ''Double Blind: Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
Conflict 2006,'' a book with photographs by Paolo Pellegrin, a member of Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour, Maria Eisn ...
. She also participated in the DVD commentary for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' (also known as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters'') is a 2007 American adult animated surreal black comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Fo ...
''. From March 28 to June 22, 2008, the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain
The Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, known simply as the Fondation Cartier, is a contemporary art museum located at 261 boulevard Raspail in the 14th arrondissement of the French capital, Paris.
History
The Fondation Cartier was cr ...
in Paris hosted a major exhibition of the visual artwork of Patti Smith, ''Land 250'', drawn from pieces created between 1967 and 2007. At the 2008 Rowan Commencement ceremony, Smith received an honorary doctorate degree for her contributions to popular culture.
Smith was the subject of a 2008 documentary film by Steven Sebring titled '' Patti Smith: Dream of Life''. A live album by Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an American-born Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer, and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the band My Bloody Valentine. They became influential on the evolution of alter ...
, '' The Coral Sea'' was released in July 2008. On September 10, 2009, after a week of smaller events and exhibitions in the city, Smith played an open-air concert in Florence's Piazza Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce is one of the main plazas or squares located in the central neighbourhood of Florence, in the region of Tuscany, Italy.
It is located near Piazza della Signoria and the National Central Library, and takes its name from the B ...
, commemorating her performance in the same city 30 years earlier. In the meantime, she contributed with a special introduction to Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors ...
's book '' 50 Photographs'' (2009).
2010–present
Smith's book, ''Just Kids
''Just Kids'' is a memoir by Patti Smith, published on January 19, 2010, documenting her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.
"I didn't write it to be cathartic," she noted. "I wrote it because Robert asked me to… Our relationship w ...
'', a memoir of her time in 1970s Manhattan and her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, was published in 2010; it later won the National Book Award for Nonfiction
The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five U.S. annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by U.S. citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists ...
."National Book Awards – 2010"National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...
. Retrieved February 26, 2012. (With acceptance speech, interview, and reading.) In 2018 a new edition with many added photographs and illustrations was published. She also headlined a benefit concert headed by bandmate Tony Shanahan, for The Court Tavern of New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
. Smith's set included "Gloria", "Because the Night" and "People Have the Power". She has a brief cameo in Jean-Luc Godard's 2010 '' Film Socialisme'', which was first screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2012, Smith received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Pratt Institute, along with architect Daniel Libeskind, MoMA director Glenn Lowry, former NYC Landmarks Commissioner Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, novelist Jonathan Lethem, and director Steven Soderbergh. Following the conferral of her degree, Smith delivered the commencement address and sang/played two songs accompanied by long-time band member Lenny Kaye. In her remarks, Smith explained that in 1967 when she moved to New York City (Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
), she would never have been accepted into Pratt, but most of her friends (including Mapplethorpe) were students at Pratt and she spent countless hours on the Pratt campus. She added that it was through her friends and their Pratt professors that she learned much of her own artistic skills, making the honor from the institute particularly poignant for Smith 43 years later.
Smith was one of the winners of the 2011 Polar Music Prize
The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, best known as the manager of the Swedish band ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The award is annually given to one contemporar ...
. She made her television acting debut at the age of 64 on the TV series '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', appearing in an episode called "Icarus". In 2011, Smith was working on a crime novel set in London. "I've been working on a detective story that starts at the St Giles in the Fields church in London for the last two years", she told NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
adding that she "loved detective stories" having been a fan of British fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and U.S. crime author Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have ...
as a girl. Part of the book will be set in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Following the death of her husband in 1994, Smith began devoting time to what she terms "pure photography" (a method of capturing still objects without using a flash). In 2011, Smith announced the first museum exhibition of her photography in the United States, ''Camera Solo''. She named the project after a sign she saw in the abode of Pope Celestine V, which translates as "a room of one's own", and which Smith felt best described her solitary method of photography. The exhibition featured artifacts which were the everyday items or places of significance of artists whom Smith admires, including Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...
, Baudelaire, Keats
John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculos ...
, and Blake
Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...
. In February 2012, she was a guest at the Sanremo Music Festival
The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...
.
Smith recorded a cover of Buddy Holly's " Words of Love" for the CD '' Rave on Buddy Holly'', a tribute album tied to Holly's seventy-fifth birthday year which was released June 28, 2011. She also recorded the song "Capitol Letter" for the official soundtrack of the second film of the ''Hunger Games
''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set 6 ...
''-series '' The Hunger Games: Catching Fire''.
Smith's 11th studio album, '' Banga'', was released in June 2012. Music Journalist Hal Horowitz wrote: "These songs aren't as loud or frantic as those of her late 70s heyday, but they resonate just as boldly as she moans, chants, speaks and spits out lyrics with the grace and determination of Mohammad Ali in his prime. It's not an easy listen—the vast majority of her music never has been—but if you're a fan and/or prepared for the challenge, this is as potent, heady and uncompromising as she has ever gotten, and with Smith's storied history as a musical maverick, that's saying plenty." The critical aggregator website Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
awarded the album a score of 81, indicating "universal acclaim".
Also in 2012, Smith recorded the cover of ''Io come persona'' by the Italian singer-songwriter Giorgio Gaber, translated into English "I as a person", contained in the anthological album '' ...io ci sono''.
In 2015, Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
offered Smith the opportunity to perform a song to commemorate the series finale of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
''. Smith, an avowed fan of the series, recorded the song "Aqua Teen Dream" with the help of her children and band. The vocal track was recorded in a hotel overlooking Lerici's Bay of Poets. On September 26, 2015, Smith performed during the American Museum of Tort Law convocation ceremony. On December 6, 2015, she made an appearance at the Paris show of U2's iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE TOUR 2015 and performed " Bad" and " People Have the Power" with the band.
In 2016, Smith performed "People Have the Power" at Riverside Church
Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...
, Manhattan, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Democracy Now
''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
. She was joined by Michael Stipe. On December 10, 2016, Smith attended the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm on behalf of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, who himself could not be present due to prior commitments. After the official presentation speech for the literary prize by Horace Engdahl, the perpetual secretary of the Swedish Academy, Smith sang the Dylan song "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" is a song written by American musician and Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962 and recorded later that year for his second album, ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' (1963). Its lyrical structure is modeled after ...
". She sang "I saw the babe that was just bleedin’", the wrong words to the second verse, and was momentarily unable to continue. After a brief apology, saying that she was nervous, she resumed the song, which earned her a jubilant applause at the end.
In 2017, Smith appeared as herself in '' Song to Song'' directed by Terrence Malick
Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenp ...
, opposite Rooney Mara
Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...
and Ryan Gosling. She later made an appearance at the Detroit show of U2's The Joshua Tree 2017 tour and performed "Mothers of the Disappeared" with the band.
In 2018, Smith's concert-documentary film ''Horses: Patti Smith and her Band'' premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...
to wide acclaim. In addition, Smith narrated in Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction.
Arono ...
's VR experience '' Spheres: Songs of Spacetime'' alongside Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown (born 19 February 2004) is a British actress and producer. She gained recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present), for which she received nominations for two Prim ...
and Jessica Chastain.
In January 2019, Smith's "Wing," photographs, displayed at the Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
Gallery, in the San Francisco Art Institute, and she performed at The Fillmore
The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California.
Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fillm ...
.
In 2019, Smith performed her anthem "People Have the Power" with Stewart Copeland and Choir! Choir! Choir! at Onassis Festival 2019: Democracy Is Coming, co-presented by The Public Theatre and Onassis USA. Later that year she released her latest book, '' Year of the Monkey''. "A captivating, redemptive chronicle of a year in which Smith looked intently into the abyss", stated ''Kirkus Reviews''.
Smith was set to receive the International Humanities Prize from Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
in November 2020; however, the ceremony was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. In 2022, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
In 2023, Smith was nominated for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
.
Legacy
Smith has been an inspiration forMichael Stipe
John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence.
Pos ...
of R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
Listening to her album '' Horses'' made a huge impact on him; he said later, "I decided then that I was going to start a band."
In 1998, Stipe published a collection of photos called ''Two Times Intro: On the Road with Patti Smith.'' Stipe sings backing vocals on Smith's songs "Last Call" and "Glitter in Their Eyes". Smith sang background vocals on R.E.M.'s songs " E-Bow the Letter" and "Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
".
The Australian alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band, The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout ...
dedicated a track ("When She Sang About Angels") off their 2000 album, '' The Friends of Rachel Worth'', to Smith's long-time influence.
In 2004, Shirley Manson of Garbage spoke of Smith's influence on her in ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''s issue "The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time", in which Patti Smith was counted number 47. The Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...
members Morrissey and Johnny Marr share an appreciation for Smith's ''Horses,'' and revealed that their song "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" is a reworking of one of the album's tracks, "Kimberly". In 2004, Sonic Youth released an album called ''Hidros 3 (to Patti Smith)''. U2 also cites Patti Smith as an influence. In 2005 Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall released the single " Suddenly I See" as a tribute of sorts to Patti Smith. Canadian actor Elliot Page frequently mentions Smith as one of his idols and has done various photo shoots replicating famous Smith photos, as well as Irish actress Maria Doyle Kennedy
Maria Josephine Doyle Kennedy (born 25 September 1964) is an Irish singer and actress. With a singing and acting career that has spanned more than 30 years, she has established herself as one of Ireland's most prolific artists and entertainers. ...
who often refers to Smith as a major influence. In 1978 and 1979, Gilda Radner portrayed a character called Candy Slice
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies ( Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called '' sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection ...
on ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'' based on Smith.
Alternative rock singer-songwriter Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...
of Hole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
heavily credited Smith as being a huge influence on her; Love received Smith's album ''Horses'' in juvenile hall as a teenager, and "realized that you could do something that was completely subversive that didn't involve violence rfelonies. I stopped making trouble," said Love. "I stopped." Hole's classic track " Violet" features the lyrics "And the sky was all violet / I want it again, but violent, more violent", alluding to lyrics from Smith's "Kimberly". Love later stated that she considered "Rock n Roll Nigger
"Rock N Roll Nigger" is a rock song written by Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, and released on the Patti Smith Group's 1978 album ''Easter''.
While the song has always been controversial for its repeated use of the racial epithet "nigger", a remi ...
" the greatest rock song of all time.
American pop singer Madonna has also named Smith as one of her biggest influences. Anglo-Celtic rock band The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...
' debut single, "A Girl Called Johnny
"A Girl Called Johnny" is a song from Scottish-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys, which was released in 1983 as the lead single from their debut studio album ''The Waterboys''. The song was written by Mike Scott and produced by Rupert Hine. It re ...
", was written as a tribute to Smith. In 2018, the English band Florence and the Machine dedicated the ''High as Hope
''High as Hope'' is the fourth studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. It was released on 29 June 2018, by Republic and Virgin EMI Records. It was preceded by the singles " Sky Full of Song" and "Hunger". "Patricia" w ...
'' album song "Patricia" to Smith. The lyrics reference Patricia as Florence Welch's "North Star". Canadian country musician Orville Peck cited Smith as having had a big impact on him, stating that Smith's album ''Horses'' introduced him to a new and different way to make music.
Activism
In 1993, Smith contributed "Memorial Tribute (Live)" to the AIDS-Benefit Album ''No Alternative
''No Alternative'' is an alternative rock compilation album produced by Paul Heck and Chris Mundy. It was released in 1993 to benefit AIDS relief. The album features original tracks and cover versions from bands who went on to define the altern ...
'' produced by the Red Hot Organization.
Smith was a supporter of the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
and backed Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.
The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...
in the 2000 United States presidential election. She led the crowd singing " Over the Rainbow" and " People Have the Power" at the campaign's rallies, and also performed at several of Nader's subsequent " Democracy Rising" events. Smith was a speaker and singer at the first protests against the Iraq War as U.S. President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
spoke to the United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
. Smith supported Democratic candidate John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
in the 2004 election. Bruce Springsteen continued performing her "People Have the Power" at Vote for Change campaign events. In the winter of 2004–2005, Smith toured again with Nader in a series of rallies against the Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
and called for the impeachment of Bush.
Smith premiered two new protest song
A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre.
Among social mov ...
s in London in September 2006. Louise Jury, writing in ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', characterized them as "an emotional indictment of American and Israeli foreign policy". The song "Qana" was about the Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese village of Qana
Qana, also spelled Cana or Kana, ( ar, قانا) is a town in southern Lebanon located southeast of the city of Tyre and north of the border with Israel, in an area historically known as Upper Galilee.
The 10,000 residents of Qana are pr ...
. "Without Chains" is about Murat Kurnaz
Murat Kurnaz (born 19 March 1982) is a Turkish citizen and legal resident of Germany who was held in extrajudicial detention by the United States at its military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan and in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp at Guantana ...
, a Turkish citizen who was born and raised in Germany, held at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...
for four years. Jury's article quotes Smith as saying:
In an interview, Smith stated that Kurnaz's family has contacted her and that she wrote a short preface for the book that he was writing. Kurnaz's book, ''Five Years of My Life'', was published in English by Palgrave Macmillan
Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...
in March 2008, with Patti's introduction.
On March 26, 2003, ten days after Rachel Corrie's death, Smith appeared in Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, and performed an anti-war concert. She subsequently wrote a song "Peaceable Kingdom" which was inspired by and is dedicated to Rachel Corrie. In 2009, in her Meltdown concert in Festival Hall, she paid homage to the Iranians taking part in post-election protests by saying "Where is My Vote?" in a version of the song "People Have the Power".
In 2015, Smith appeared with Nader, spoke and performed the songs "Wing" and "People Have the Power" during the American Museum of Tort Law convocation ceremony in Winsted, Connecticut
Winsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester. The population of Winsted was 7,712 at the 2010 census, out of 11,242 in the entire town of Win ...
. Smith spoke, read poetry, and performed several songs accompanied by her daughter Jesse at Nader's ''Breaking Through Power'' conference at DAR Constitution Hall
DAR Constitution Hall is a concert hall located at 1776 D Street NW, near the White House in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to house its annual convention when membership delegations outgrew Me ...
in Washington, D.C.
A long-time supporter of Tibet House US
Tibet House US (THUS) is a Tibetan cultural preservation and education 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1987 in New York City by a group of Westerners after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, expressed his wish to establish a cultural insti ...
, she performs yearly at their benefit at Carnegie Hall.
In 2020, Smith contributed signed first-edition copies of her books to the Passages bookshop in Portland, Oregon, after the store was burgled of a number of valuable first-edition and other books by various authors. She did so after reading about the burglary and its impact on the owner, stating that she "loves bookstores."
She regards climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
as the overriding issue of our time, performing at the opening of COP26
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...
in 2021.
On February 24, 2022, Patti Smith stepped on The Capitol Theatre stage for the first time: “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t affected by what is happening in the world,” said Smith at the beginning of the set, referencing the Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
earlier in the day. “Peace as we know it is over in Europe”.
"This is what I heard in my sleep and goes through my head all day all night long like a tragic hit song. A raw translation of the Ukrainian anthem that the people are singing through defiant tears" - she wrote on Instagram on March 6.
Beliefs
Religion
Smith was raised aJehovah's Witness
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
and had a strong religious upbringing and a Biblical education. She left organized religion as a teenager because she felt it was too confining. In response to this experience, she wrote the line "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine" in her cover version of " Gloria" by Them. She has described having an avid interest in Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
around the age of eleven or twelve, saying "I fell in love with Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
because their essential mission was to keep a continual stream of prayer," but that as an adult she sees clear parallels between different forms of religion, and has come to the conclusion that religious dogmas are "... man-made laws that you can either decide to abide by or not."
In 2014 she was invited by Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
to play at Vatican Christmas concert. She commented: "It's a Christmas concert for the people, and it's being televised. I like Pope Francis and I'm happy to sing for him. Anyone who would confine me to a line from 20 years ago is a fool! I had a strong religious upbringing, and the first word on my first LP is Jesus. I did a lot of thinking. I'm not against Jesus, but I was 20 and I wanted to make my own mistakes and I didn't want anyone dying for me. I stand behind that 20-year-old girl, but I have evolved. I'll sing to my enemy! I don't like being pinned down and I'll do what the fuck I want, especially at my age … oh, I hope there's no small children here!” She performed at the Vatican again and told ''Democracy Now!
''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
'' that she had studied Francis of Assisi back when Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
was still the pope. Smith called Francis of Assisi "truly the environmentalist saint" and said that despite not being a Catholic, she had hoped for a pope named Francis.
Feminism and women in music
According to biographer Nick Johnstone, Smith has often been "revered" as a "feminist icon", including by ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' journalist Simon Hattenstone
Simon Hattenstone (born 29 December 1962 in Salford, England) is a British journalist and writer. He is a features writer and interviewer for ''The Guardian''.
in a 2013 profile on the musician.
In 2014, Smith offered her opinion on the sexualization of women in music. "Pop music has always been about the mainstream and what appeals to the public. I don't feel it's my place to judge." As at points earlier in her life and career, she declined to embrace feminism: "I have a son and a daughter, people always talk to me about feminism and women's rights, but I have a son too—I believe in human rights."
In 2015, writer Anwen Crawford observed that Smith's "attitude to genius seems pre-feminist, if not anti-feminist; there is no democratizing, deconstructing impulse in her work. True artists, for Smith, are remote, solitary figures of excellence, wholly dedicated to their art."
Awards and nominations
{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable", , - ! scope="row",ASCAP Pop Music Awards
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
, 1995
, " Because the Night"
, Most Performed Song
,
,
, -
!scope="row" rowspan=4, Grammy Awards
, 1998
, "1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
"
, rowspan=2, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...
,
, rowspan=4,
, -
, 2001
, " Glitter in Their Eyes"
,
, -
, 2016
, ''Blood On Snow (Jo Nesbø)''
, rowspan=2, Best Spoken Word Album
,
, -
, 2017
, '' M Train''
,
, -
!scope="row", Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
, 2021
, '' Horses''
, Hall of Fame
,
,
Band members
Current
*Patti Smith – vocals, guitar (1974–1979, 1988, 1996–present) * Lenny Kaye – guitar (1974–1979, 1996–present) *Jackson Smith – guitar (2016–present) *Tony Shanahan – bass guitar, keyboards (1996–present) * Jay Dee Daugherty – drums (1975–1979, 1988, 1996–present)Former
*Richard Sohl
Richard Arthur Sohl (May 26, 1953June 3, 1990) was an American pianist, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work with the Patti Smith Group. He also played with Iggy Pop, Nina Hagen and Elliott Murphy. He died on June 3, 1990, of a hear ...
– keyboards (1974–1977, 1979, 1988)
* Ivan Král – bass guitar (1975–1979)
*Bruce Brody – keyboards (1977–1978)
*Fred "Sonic" Smith
Frederick Dewey Smith (September 14, 1948 – November 4, 1994), known professionally as Fred "Sonic" Smith, was an American guitarist, best known as a member of the influential and political Detroit rock band MC5. At age 31, he married and rai ...
– guitar (1988)
*Kasim Sulton
Kasim Sulton (born December 8, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States. As a solo artist, Sulton ...
– bass guitar (1988)
*Oliver Ray – guitar (1996–2005)
*Jack Petruzzelli – guitar (2006–2016)
Timeline
Discography
As a solo artist
* '' Horses'' (1975) * '' Dream of Life'' (1988) * '' Gone Again'' (1996) * ''Peace and Noise
''Peace and Noise'' is the seventh studio album by Patti Smith, released on September 30, 1997, by Arista Records.
Critical reception
''Peace and Noise'' received generally favorable reviews from critics, ranking No. 29 in ''The Village Voice ...
'' (1997)
* '' Gung Ho'' (2000)
* '' Trampin''' (2004)
* '' Twelve'' (2007)
* '' Banga'' (2012)
As ''Patti Smith Group''
* ''Radio Ethiopia
''Radio Ethiopia,'' the second studio album by the Patti Smith Group, was released in October 1976 through Arista Records.
Background
''Radio Ethiopia'' was the follow-up record to Smith's widely acclaimed debut ''Horses''. In interviews surroun ...
'' (1976)
* ''Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
'' (1978)
* ''Wave
In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (re ...
'' (1979)
Books
* ''Cowboy Mouth'' (1971) play co-written with Sam Shepard * '' Seventh Heaven'' * '' Early Morning Dream'' * '' A Useless Death'' * '' Witt'' * ''The Night'' * '' Ha! Ha! Houdini!'' * '' Babel'' * ''Woolgathering'' * '' Early Work'' * '' The Coral Sea'' * '' Patti Smith Complete'' * '' Strange Messenger'' * ''Auguries of Innocence
"Auguries of Innocence" is a poem by William Blake, from a notebook of his now known as the Pickering Manuscript.Encyclopædia Britannica Online.The Pickering Manuscript" Online. Accessed 13 December 2010. It is assumed to have been written in 1 ...
''
* ''Poems (Vintage Classics)'' by William Blake. Edited by and with introduction by Patti Smith * ''Land 250'' * ''Trois'' * ''Great Lyricists''; foreword by Rick Moody * ''
Just Kids
''Just Kids'' is a memoir by Patti Smith, published on January 19, 2010, documenting her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.
"I didn't write it to be cathartic," she noted. "I wrote it because Robert asked me to… Our relationship w ...
''
* ''Hecatomb'' With 20 drawings by Jose Antonio Suarez Londono
* '' M Train'' Ulin, David L.Review: Patti Smith's ''M Train'' reckons with life, while ''Collected Lyrics'' shows her living energy as words
, ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', October 1, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
* ''Devotion
Devotion or Devotions may refer to:
Religion
* Faith, confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept
* Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians
* Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance
* Cat ...
''
* ''The New Jerusalem''
* ''Just Kids'' (Illustrated edition)
* ''at the Minetta Lane''
* ''Year of the Monkey''
* ''A Book of Days''
References
Further reading
* * * * * * * *External links
* * * * *I Will Always Live Like Peter Pan.
70 min interview from the Louisiana Literature festival 2012. Video by Louisiana Channel.
Patti Smith: Advice to the young.
Filmed at Louisiana Literature festival 2012. Video interview by Louisiana Channel.
Patti Smith: First encounters with Robert Mapplethorpe.
Filmed at Louisiana Literature festival 2012. Video interview by Louisiana Channel. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Patti 1946 births 20th-century American artists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American artists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American poets 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women artists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American women writers American contraltos American women rock singers American women singer-songwriters American human rights activists Women human rights activists American punk rock guitarists American punk rock singers American rock songwriters American spoken word artists American women poets American women memoirists American memoirists Arista Records artists Art rock musicians Columbia Records artists Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Women punk rock singers Former Jehovah's Witnesses Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Michigan Guitarists from New Jersey Guitarists from New York City Living people National Book Award winners Outlaw poets . People from Deptford Township, New Jersey People from St. Clair Shores, Michigan People from Woodbury, New Jersey Poets from Michigan Poets from New Jersey Poets from New York (state) Postmodern writers Protopunk musicians Punk poets Rolling Stone people Rowan University alumni Singers from Chicago Singer-songwriters from Michigan Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Singers from New York City The Minus 5 members 20th-century American women guitarists American people of Irish descent Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singer-songwriters from Illinois nds:Patti Smith