Patti Smith
On November 17, 2010, Patti Smith won the National Book Award for Nonfiction for her memoir Just Kids, a recognition that underscored the breadth of a career spanning music, poetry, and the visual arts. Born on December 30, 1946, in Chicago, Smith attended Deptford Township High School and later studied at Rowan University before establishing herself as a singer, songwriter, poet, writer, photographer, draftsperson, and performance artist working in English.
Her musical career took a defining step in 1975 with the release of her debut album Horses. She co-wrote the song "Because the Night" with Bruce Springsteen, and the track reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number five on the UK Singles Chart. Smith was subsequently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, marking a significant moment of recognition within the music industry.
Her honors extend well beyond that induction. She received the Polar Music Prize, the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts, and the Officer of the Legion of Honour. Across these awards — spanning literature, music, and the fine arts — the range of Smith's recognized work reflects the multiple disciplines, from rock singing to poetry to visual art, in which she has continued to operate.
Quotes by Patti Smith
Patti Smith's insights on:
When I came to New York people immediately accepted me in the sense that I was anonymous. And I liked that.
Rock 'n' roll is hard work, it's harder than being in the army. And your guitar is your machine gun; tour instruments are your implements of battle.
Loyalty lives and we don't know why / And the paw is pressed against the nerve of the sky / You can leave him behind but he won't leave you / And the road to Heaven is true - true blue.
It's no secret - I love detective fiction. One of the reasons I love being in London is because I like to watch all the shows on TV. I watch them all. I like 'Detective Frost.'
As an artist, I used to think that my responsibility was to do good work. But I had to learn from the '70s on that being a public figure presents another aspect of responsibility.
I came into music because I thought the presentation of poetry wasn't vibrant enough. So I merged improvised poetry with basic rock chords. That was my original mission.
A lot of my audience are in their 50s. But they want me to pretend to continue to be pretending.