Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, and author whose 1975 debut album Horses made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement.[1] Smith has fused rock and poetry in her work. In 1978, her most widely known song, "Because the Night", co-written with Bruce Springsteen, reached 13th on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[1] and fifth on the UK Singles Chart.
For the lead singer of the band Scandal, see Patty Smyth. For other persons of the same name, see Patricia Smith (disambiguation).
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith
December 30, 1946
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
- poet
- painter
- author
- Vocals
- guitar
- clarinet
1967–present
In 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.[5] In 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[6] In November 2010, Smith won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids,[7] written to fulfill a promise she made to Robert Mapplethorpe, her longtime partner. She is ranked 47th on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, published in 2010,[8] and was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2011.
Early life and education[edit]
Smith was born on December 30, 1946, at Grant Hospital in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago,[9][10] to Beverly Smith, a jazz singer turned waitress, and Grant Smith, a Honeywell machinist.[11] The family was of part Irish ancestry,[12] and Patti was the eldest of four children, with siblings Linda, Kimberly, and Todd.[13]
When Smith was four, the family moved from Chicago to the Germantown section of Philadelphia,[14] then to Pitman, New Jersey,[15] and finally settled in the Woodbury Gardens section of Deptford Township, New Jersey.[16][17]
At an early age, Smith was exposed to music, including the albums Shrimp Boats by Harry Belafonte, The Money Tree by Patience and Prudence, and Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan's fourth album, released in 1964, which her mother gave her.
In 1964, Smith graduated from Deptford Township High School, and began working in a factory.[1][18] She briefly attended Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, in Glassboro, New Jersey.
Beliefs[edit]
Religion[edit]
Smith was raised a Jehovah's Witness and had a strong religious upbringing and a Biblical education. She says she left organized religion as a teenager because she found it too confining. This experience inspired her lyrics, "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine", which appear on her cover version of "Gloria" by Them.[122] She has described having an avid interest in Tibetan Buddhism around the age of 11 or 12, saying "I fell in love with Tibet 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 concluded that religious dogmas are "…man-made laws that you can either decide to abide by or not."[26]
In 2014, she was invited by Pope Francis to play at Vatican Christmas concert.[123] "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 said.[124]
In 2021, she performed at the Vatican again, telling Democracy Now! that she studied Francis of Assisi when Pope Benedict XVI 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.[125]
Feminism[edit]
According to biographer Nick Johnstone, Smith has often been "revered" as a "feminist icon",[126] including by The Guardian journalist Simon Hattenstone in a 2013 profile on the musician.[127]
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." Smith historically and presently declines to embrace feminism, saying, "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."[128]
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."[129]
Awards[edit]
In July 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture.[5] In addition to Smith's influence on rock music, the Minister noted Smith's appreciation of Arthur Rimbaud. In August 2005, Smith gave a literary lecture about the poems of Rimbaud and William Blake.
On March 12, 2007, Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[6] She dedicated her award to the memory of her late husband, Fred, and performed a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter". 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 traditionally ends the program.[130]
In 2008, Patti Smith: Dream of Life, a documentary about Smith by Steven Sebring, was released.[131] Also in 2008, Rowan University awarded Smith with an honorary doctorate degree for her contributions to popular culture.
In 2011, Smith was one of several Polar Music Prize winners.[132] She made her television acting debut at age 64 on the TV series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, appearing in an episode titled "Icarus".[133]
