Photo: Harald Krichel / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Patti Smith is one of those rare figures who makes you rethink what a rock musician is even allowed to be. Her 1975 debut Horses hit like a thunderclap — raw, literary, utterly unlike anything else coming out of New York at the time — and it basically handed punk its intellectual backbone before the genre even knew it needed one. But calling her a "punk poet" feels too small; the woman won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids, picked up the Polar Music Prize, and earned the Legion of Honour, all while remaining genuinely, stubbornly herself. No reinvention tours, no chasing trends. She just keeps writing, performing, and painting on her own terms, and the world keeps recognizing it. I have a deep respect for artists who age into something richer rather than coasting on nostalgia, and Patti Smith is Exhibit A.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Patti Smith
- Name (Japanese)
- パティ・スミス
- Reading
- ぱてぃ・すみす
- Born
- December 30, 1946 (age 79)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Dog
- Origin
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Height
- 2 cm
- Occupation
- singer-songwriter / poet / visual artist / human rights defender / writer
2. Background
- High school
- Deptford Township High School
- University
- Rowan University
Awards & achievements
- 2005 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
- 2010 National Book Award
- 2011 Polar Music Prize
- 2010 National Book Award for Nonfiction
- 2019 Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts
- 2017 honorary doctorate from the University of Parma
- 2019 honorary doctor of the University of Padua
- 2022 Officer of the Legion of Honour
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Official sitehttps://www.pattismith.net
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/thisispattismith/
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%91%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9F%E3%82%B9
Frequently asked questions
When was Patti Smith born?
Born December 30, 1946 (age 79).
Where is Patti Smith from?
Patti Smith is from Chicago, Illinois, United States.
What does Patti Smith do?
Patti Smith works as singer-songwriter, poet, visual artist, human rights defender, writer.
How tall is Patti Smith?
Patti Smith is 2 cm.
Singer-songwriter — see all → · Poet — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.