Patti Smith facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patti Smith
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Patti Smith at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, in 2024
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| Birth name | Patricia Lee Smith |
| Born | December 30, 1946 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Origin | Deptford Township, New Jersey, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1967–present |
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Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, and poet. She is also a painter, author, and photographer. Her first album, Horses, came out in 1975. It made her an important part of the New York City punk rock music scene. Patti Smith is known for mixing rock and poetry in her songs. In 1978, her most famous song, "Because the Night", became a big hit. She wrote it with Bruce Springsteen.
Patti Smith has received many honors. In 2005, France gave her a special award called the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2007, she joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She won the National Book Award in 2010 for her book Just Kids. This book was about her friendship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the 100 Greatest Artists of all Time in 2010. She also won the Polar Music Prize in 2011, which is a big music award.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Patti Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 30, 1946. Her mother, Beverly Smith, was a jazz singer who later became a waitress. Her father, Grant Smith, worked as a machinist. Patti was the oldest of four children. Her family moved several times when she was young. They lived in Philadelphia, then Pitman, New Jersey, and finally settled in Deptford Township, New Jersey.
When she was young, Patti listened to many records. Her mother gave her Another Side of Bob Dylan, which was a big influence. Patti finished Deptford Township High School in 1964. After high school, she worked in a factory. She later went to Glassboro State College in New Jersey.
Music Career and Performances
Starting Her Music Journey
In 1969, Patti Smith traveled to Paris with her sister. There, she started performing music and art on the streets. When she came back to New York City, she lived at the Hotel Chelsea. She spent time with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Patti also performed in plays, like Femme Fatale and Island. In the early 1970s, she painted, wrote, and performed poetry.
Patti Smith also wrote a play called Cowboy Mouth with Sam Shepard. She wrote poems about her relationship with Shepard, which were later published. On February 10, 1971, Patti gave her first public poetry performance. She was joined by Lenny Kaye on electric guitar.
For a short time, Patti was thought of as a lead singer for the band Blue Öyster Cult. She wrote lyrics for some of their songs. She also wrote articles about rock music for magazines like Rolling Stone.
The Patti Smith Group Forms
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In 1973, Patti Smith started working with Lenny Kaye again. They added Richard Sohl on piano. Soon, the group grew to include Ivan Král on guitar and bass, and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums. Ivan Král was from Czechoslovakia and had moved to the U.S. in 1966. He decided to stay after the Soviet invasion of his home country.
The band recorded their first song in 1974. Patti Smith often spoke about how much she admired the French poet Arthur Rimbaud. She said he was like her "boyfriend" in her daydreams.
First Albums and Success
In March 1975, the Patti Smith Group started playing shows at CBGB in New York City. This famous music club was where they were discovered by Clive Davis. He signed them to Arista Records.
Later that year, the band recorded their first album, Horses. It was produced by John Cale. The album mixed punk rock music with spoken poetry. It started with a cover of "Gloria" by Them. Patti Smith's opening words were: "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine." The album's simple cover photo, taken by Mapplethorpe, became very famous.
As punk rock became more popular, the Patti Smith Group toured the U.S. and Europe. Their second album, Radio Ethiopia, had a rougher sound. At first, it did not get good reviews. However, some of its songs are still played live by Smith today. She said the band MC5 influenced Radio Ethiopia.
In January 1977, while on tour, Patti Smith fell off a stage in Tampa, Florida. She broke several bones in her neck. This injury meant she needed time to rest and recover. She said this time helped her think about her life and get new energy.
The Patti Smith Group made two more albums. Easter, released in 1978, was their most successful album. It included their biggest hit song, "Because the Night", which she wrote with Bruce Springsteen. Wave came out in 1979. It was not as popular, but songs like "Frederick" and "Dancing Barefoot" were played on the radio.
During the 1980s, Patti lived with her family in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. She took a break from music for a while. Later, she moved back to New York City.
New Music and Tours
In June 1988, Smith released the album Dream of Life. It included the popular song "People Have the Power".
Friends like Michael Stipe from R.E.M. and poet Allen Ginsberg encouraged her to return to live music. She toured with Bob Dylan in 1995.
In 1996, Smith worked with her bandmates again to record Gone Again. This album included "About a Boy", a song honoring Kurt Cobain from the band Nirvana, who had passed away. That same year, she sang on R.E.M.'s song "E-Bow the Letter". After Gone Again, she released two more albums: Peace and Noise in 1997 and Gung Ho in 2000. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for her songs "1959" and "Glitter in Their Eyes".
A collection of her work, The Patti Smith Masters, was released in 1996. In 2002, she released Land (1975–2002), a two-CD collection. It included her cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry".
On April 27, 2004, Smith released Trampin'. This album had songs about motherhood, honoring her own mother who had passed away. In June 2005, Smith performed her album Horses live for the first time. This performance was released as Horses/Horses.
On October 15, 2006, Patti Smith played a long show to close CBGB, the famous New York City music venue. She sang "Elegie" as her final song. Then, she read a list of punk rock musicians who had passed away. These were the last public words spoken at the iconic club.
In April 2007, Smith released Twelve, an album of cover songs. In July 2008, a live album with Kevin Shields called The Coral Sea came out.
Smith recorded a cover of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" for a tribute album in 2011. She also recorded "Capitol Letter" for the movie soundtrack of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Her 11th studio album, Banga, was released in June 2012. Critics praised the album, saying it was powerful and unique.
In 2015, Smith performed with U2 at their Paris show. She sang "Bad" and "People Have the Power" with them. In 2016, she sang "People Have the Power" at Riverside Church in Manhattan. On December 10, 2016, she accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature on behalf of Bob Dylan in Stockholm. She sang Dylan's song "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". She was a bit nervous but finished the song to big applause.
Art and Writing Projects
In 1994, Patti Smith started focusing on "pure photography." This is a way of taking pictures of still objects without using a flash.
From 2006 to 2007, an exhibition called 'Sur les Traces' showed her polaroid photos in London. In 2008, a large exhibition of her visual artwork, called Land 250, was held in Paris. It showed pieces she created between 1967 and 2007.
In 2010, Smith's book Just Kids was published. It is a memoir about her early life in Manhattan and her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe. The book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. A new edition with more photos came out in 2018.
In 2011, Smith had her first museum photography exhibition in the U.S. It was called Camera Solo. The exhibition featured everyday items and places important to artists she admired, like Arthur Rimbaud and William Blake.
She also worked on a crime novel set in London. She told NME that she loves detective stories and enjoyed reading about Sherlock Holmes when she was younger.
Film Appearances
In 2010, Smith had a small role in Jean-Luc Godard's film Film Socialisme. In 2017, she appeared as herself in the movie Song to Song. She also sang with U2 at their Detroit show.
In 2018, a documentary film about her concert, Horses: Patti Smith and her Band, was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. She also narrated a virtual reality experience called Spheres: Songs of Spacetime.
In January 2019, her photographs were displayed in San Francisco. Later that year, she released her latest book, Year of the Monkey.
In 2024, Smith appeared as herself in Turn in the Wound, a documentary about people in Kyiv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She also created the music for the film.
Influence on Other Artists
Patti Smith has inspired many musicians and artists. In 1972, musician Todd Rundgren mentioned her in his album notes. Seven years later, he produced her album Wave.
In 1979, Gilda Radner played a character based on Smith, called Candy Slice, on Saturday Night Live. The band The Waterboys wrote their song "A Girl Called Johnny" as a tribute to Smith.
Hole's song "Violet" (1994) has lyrics that refer to Smith's song "Kimberly." Courtney Love, Hole's singer, said Smith was a major influence.
Michael Stipe of R.E.M. published a photo collection about touring with Patti Smith. He also sang on some of her songs, and she sang on R.E.M.'s "E-Bow the Letter." Stipe said that listening to Smith's album Horses made him want to start a band.
In 2004, Shirley Manson from Garbage talked about Smith's influence on her. The Smiths members Morrissey and Johnny Marr also loved Horses. They said their song "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" was inspired by Smith's "Kimberly."
In 2005, U2 said Smith was an influence. KT Tunstall's song "Suddenly I See" is also a tribute to Smith. Many artists, like Elliot Page and Maria Doyle Kennedy, have called Smith an idol and a major influence.
In 2012, Madonna named Patti Smith as one of her biggest influences. That same year, Smith received an honorary doctorate degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She gave a speech and played songs. She said that many of her friends were students at Pratt, and she learned a lot from them.
In 2018, the band Florence and the Machine dedicated their song "Patricia" to Smith. They called her Florence Welch's "North Star."
In 2022, Smith received another honorary doctorate from Columbia University. She was also named an Officer of the French Legion of Honor, a very high award from France.
Activism and Beliefs
Speaking Out for Change
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Patti Smith has often used her voice to support important causes. In 1993, she contributed a song to an album that raised money for AIDS research.
In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, she supported the Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. She sang "Over the Rainbow" and "People Have the Power" at his rallies. Smith also spoke and sang at early protests against the Iraq War. She supported John Kerry in the 2004 election. Bruce Springsteen continued to perform her song "People Have the Power" at political events.
In 2006, Smith released two new protest songs in London. One song, "Qana," was about an Israeli airstrike on a village in Lebanon. The other, "Without Chains," was about Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish citizen held at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. Smith said she wrote these songs because she felt angry about injustices against people. She believes that human rights are very important.
In 2009, during her concert in London, she honored Iranians protesting their election results. She sang "Where is My Vote?" in a version of "People Have the Power."
Smith is a long-time supporter of Tibet House US, an organization that helps preserve Tibetan culture. She performs at their yearly benefit concert.
Patti Smith believes climate change is a very important issue. She performed at the opening of COP26, a big climate conference, in 2021. In May 2021, she joined over 600 musicians in calling for a boycott of performances in Israel until the occupation of Palestinian territories ends.
On February 24, 2022, the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Smith performed at a theater. She spoke about how sad she was about what was happening in Europe. She later shared a translation of the Ukrainian anthem, saying it was sung by people with "defiant tears."
Personal Beliefs
Patti Smith was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and had a strong religious background. She said she left organized religion as a teenager because it felt too strict. This experience inspired her famous lyric: "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine." As an adult, she sees similarities between different religions. She believes that religious rules are "man-made laws" that people can choose to follow or not.
In 2014 and 2021, she was invited by Pope Francis to perform at the Vatican Christmas concert. She has spoken about her admiration for Francis of Assisi, calling him "truly the environmentalist saint."
Views on Feminism
Many people see Patti Smith as a "feminist icon." This means she is admired for being a strong woman who stands up for herself and others. However, some writers have noted that Smith's view on artists is that they are special, talented individuals, rather than focusing on group movements.
Awards and Honors
In July 2005, Patti Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. This award recognized her influence on rock music and her love for the poet Arthur Rimbaud.
On March 12, 2007, Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She dedicated her award to her late husband, Fred. She also performed a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter." Her song "People Have the Power" was played at the end of the ceremony.
In 2008, a documentary about Smith called Patti Smith: Dream of Life was released. Also in 2008, Rowan University gave her an honorary doctorate degree for her contributions to popular culture.
In 2011, Smith was one of the winners of the Polar Music Prize. She also made her first TV acting appearance at age 64 on the show Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
In 2024, Smith received the Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal from the Municipal Art Society of New York. This award honors people who have made a lasting impact on New York City.
Personal Life
In 1967, when she was 20, Patti Smith moved to Manhattan. She started working at a bookstore where she met photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. They became very close friends and had a strong relationship. They faced financial difficulties together. Smith used Mapplethorpe's photos for her album covers. She also wrote essays for his books. They remained friends until Mapplethorpe passed away in 1989.
Patti Smith considers Mapplethorpe one of the most important people in her life. She calls him "the artist of my life" in her book Just Kids, which tells their story. Her book and album The Coral Sea is a tribute to him.
In 1979, Patti Smith met Fred "Sonic" Smith. He was a guitar player for the band MC5. Like Patti, Fred loved poetry. She dedicated her songs "Dancing Barefoot" and "Frederick" to him. They got married and had a son, Jackson (born 1982), and a daughter, Jesse Paris (born 1987). Jesse Paris is also a musician.
Fred Smith passed away in 1994. Soon after, Patti also lost her brother Todd.
Band Members
Current Members
- 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 Members
- Richard Sohl – keyboards (1974–1977, 1979, 1988; died 1990)
- Ivan Král – bass guitar (1975–1979; died 2022)
- Bruce Brody – keyboards (1977–1978)
- Fred "Sonic" Smith – guitar (1988; died 1994)
- Kasim Sulton – bass guitar (1988)
- Oliver Ray – guitar (1996–2005)
- Jack Petruzzelli – guitar (2006–2016)
Discography
As a Solo Artist
- Horses (1975)
- Dream of Life (1988)
- Gone Again (1996)
- Peace and Noise (1997)
- Gung Ho (2000)
- Trampin' (2004)
- Twelve (2007)
- Banga (2012)
As Patti Smith Group
- Radio Ethiopia (1976)
- Easter (1978)
- Wave (1979)
See also
In Spanish: Patti Smith para niños
