American musician, rock singer, painter, and poet. She became one of the most influential names in the birth of punk rock with her first album Horses, released in 1975. Smith has been called the godmother of punk.
She combined the beat poetry performance style with garage rock. While she challenged the disco era with her unfeminine language, she also introduced American youth to 19th-century French poetry. Smith is widely known for her song "Because the Night", which she wrote with Bruce Springsteen and peaked at number 13 on the charts.
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. 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 and fifth on the UK Singles Chart.
Who is Patti Smith?
She was born on December 30, 1946, in Chicago. She spent her childhood in Woodbury, New Jersey.
Smith graduated from Deptford Township High School in 1964. In 1967, she left Glassboro State Teachers College, now Rowan University, and moved to New York. There, she met photographer Robert Mapplethorpe while working in a bookstore with fellow poet Janet Hamill.
The photographs taken by Mapplethorpe became the cover of the Patti Smith Group.
Patti, who went to Paris with her sister in 1969, earned her living by busking and performing arts. When she returned to New York, she lived with Mapplethorpe at the Chelsea Hotel. The same year, she starred in Jackie Curtis's play Femme Fatale, alongside Jayne County.
He spent the early 1970s painting and writing as part of the St Mark's Poetry Project. During the same years, Smith wrote rock articles that were also published in Creem magazine.
Patti, who started making rock music on her own in 1974, became one of the most influential names in the birth of punk rock with her first album Horses, released in 1975.
Smith has been called the godmother of punk.
In 2005, the artist was awarded the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French Ministry of Culture for her contributions to literature and culture.
She was accepted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in 2007.
The artist received America's prestigious literary award, the National Book Award nonfiction award, with her book titled 'Just Kids', in which she wrote her memoirs.