Smith, Patti (1946-…), is an American rock singer, songwriter, poet, and artist. She has been called the “godmother of punk” because of the major role she played in the punk rock movement of New York City in the late 1970’s. Punk rock has a loud, fast, energetic sound, and punk rockers bring an angry, rebellious attitude to their music. Smith often incorporates elements of free form (unstructured) poetry into her music.
Patricia Lee Smith was born in Chicago on Dec. 30, 1946. She grew up in Philadelphia and Woodbury, New Jersey. In 1967, she moved to New York City.
In 1971, Smith began giving poetry readings, accompanied on guitar by the American rock critic Lenny Kaye. In 1974, Smith and Kaye formed a band that later became the Patti Smith Group. The group included pianist and keyboardist Richard Sohl, drummer Jay Dee Daughtery, and bassist and guitarist Ivan Kral. Smith’s first single, ”Hey Joe,” was released in 1974. In 1975, Smith released her debut album, Horses. The album merged punk, poetry, and garage rock. Garage rock emphasizes crude or raw compositions with an unfinished and improvised sound. Horses became one of the most influential and critically acclaimed albums in rock history.
In 1978, “Because the Night,” co-written by Smith with the American rock star Bruce Springsteen, became the biggest hit of Smith’s career. Smith’s other notable albums include Radio Ethiopia (1976), Easter (1978), Wave (1979), Dream of Life (1988), Gone Again (1996), Peace and Noise (1997), Gung Ho (2000), Trampin’ (2004), and Banga (2012).
Smith has written a number of volumes of poetry. She also wrote the memoirs Just Kids (2010), about her relationship with the American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe; M Train (2015); and Year of the Monkey (2019). Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She was married to the American rock musician Fred “Sonic” Smith from 1980 until his death in 1994.
See also Punk rock ; Rock music (Punk rock) .
