Patti Smith is a singer, author, poet and artist from the 70s. She is known for her way of songwriting that combined her affinity for poetry into her song lyrics. Later in her life, she began to write books such as “Just Kids,” which won the National Book Award and got number five on Billboard’s 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time.
Patricia Lee Smith was born on December 30, 1946, in Chicago. Her mother, Beverly Smith, was a jazz singer who later became a waitress after limited success and her father, Grant Smith, was a machinist. Smith has three younger siblings named Linda, Kimberly, and Todd. After graduating high school in 1964, she began factory work. A very important moment in her life took place just three years later, in 1967, when she gave birth to her first child, although she decided to put her daughter up for adoption.
Smith both began and quit college at Glassboro State College that same year. Afterwards she moved to New York City and met Robert Mapplethorpe, who became a very prevalent person in the rest of her life. They had a very turbulent relationship as they struggled through the poverty of two blossoming artists in New York City.
Smith went through multiple art forms throughout her time before fame. Robert and Smith both tried physical art. Smith did multiple plays such as Jackie Curtis’s “Femme Fatal.” Eventually, Robert found his calling in photography, and Smith found hers in poetry and music. On February 10, 1971, she gave her first live poetry reading with Lenny Kaye.
Smith was considered, and refused, to be the lead singer of the American rock band, Blue Oyster Cult. She helped write and inspired multiple songs including, “Debbie Denise” and “Baby Ice Dog.” During the time she was in the band she was in a relationship with band keyboardist, Allen Lainer. She also experimented with rock journalism during this time, writing with well-known magazines like the Rolling Stone.
In 1973, Smith created a band consisting of Lenny Kaye, Richard Sohl, Ivan Kral and Jay Dee Daughtery. The next year, The Patti Smith Group released their first song, “Hey Joe.” In 1975, the Patti Smith Group began having weekend sets with the show CBGB with the band Television. During one of these sets Clive Davis decided to sign the group to Arista Records. In 1975, they released their first album, “Horses.” Soon after the start of their tour, they released their second album, “Radio Ethiopia,” to initially poor reviews.
In 1977, during a show in Tampa, Florida, Smith fell off the stage, 15 feet up, before landing in the concrete orchestra pit. She broke multiple neck vertebrates, leading to a long, painful period of healing.
In 1978, the band released their most commercially successful album, “Easter.” The next year, following Smith’s breakup from her previous partner, the band released “Wave” to less enthusiastic responses. Despite responses, “Wave” still had commercial airplay.
Finally, in 1976, Smith met Fred “Sonic” Smith. The two married and Smith joked she only married him so she would not have to change her last name. They had a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Jesse. Through the 1980s, Smith took time off to live with her family in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. In 1994, Fred Smith died of a sudden heart attack. She was again soon met with loss when her brother, Todd, unexpectedly died.
After the losses, she decided to move back to New York City. Allen Ginsberg and Michael Stipe encouraged her to begin touring live again. In 1995, she briefly toured with Bob Dylan who was someone she looked up to throughout her rise to fame.
In 1996, she recorded “Gone Again” with her long-time band. She later recorded “Peace and Noise” in 1997, and “Gung Ho” in 2000. The songs “1959” and “Glitter in Their Eyes” got Smith nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
In 2004, she released “Trampin,” which is about motherhood, as her first album with Columbia Records. In 2005, Smith was named Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and dedicated the reward to her late husband.
Smith was the subject of Steven Sebring’s documentary, “Patti Smith: Dream of Life.” “The Coral Sea” was a live album released in 2008 by Smith and Kevin Shields. In 2010, Smith released her book, “Just Kids,” to honor Mapplethorpe’s dying wish for Smith to tell their story. In 2012, she was given an honorary doctorate from Pratt Institute in Fine Arts.
In 2011, she won the Polar Music Prize and appeared in “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” In 2012, she released “Banga.” “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 has never 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,” reported “American Songwriter” of her newest album.
Smith was going to receive the International Humanities Prize but the celebration was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, she received another honorary doctorate, this time from Columbia University for Humane Letters. In 2023, Smith was nominated for the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Patti Smith is a famous singer whose music and story affected and inspired many young and upcoming artists. Though her name may not be as well known, her legacy is still carried through her music, books and poetry.
