Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPunk Singer
Date of Birth30 December 1946
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
years records littles
I had a handful of records, but when I was 11 years old, I liked Puccini as much as Little Richard. They both made sense to me.
names people godmother
People called me the godmother of punk, but I never name myself anything.
mother tragedy laundry
My mother had no end of tragedy in her life. She would make herself get up and take a deep breath and go out and do laundry. Hang up sheets.
hair want performing
The thing I've always liked about performing is that I decide what I want to wear, whether I want to comb my hair.
girl taken littles
Then I read Little Women, and of course, like a lot of really young girls, I was very taken with Jo - Jo being the writer and the misfit.
plato father games
My father was a dreamy fellow - he read Plato and Socrates and watched Phillies games.
reading writing long
It was no hardship to me to spend long hours reading and writing.
facts calling painter
In fact, I thought my calling was to be a painter.
song want labels
If your label won't let you have the cover you want or sing the songs you want, then leave!
people trying not-interested
I personally am not interested in people trying to pigeonhole me.
thinking years race
From very early on in my childhood - four, five years old - I felt alien to the human race. I felt very comfortable with thinking I was from another planet, because I felt disconnected - I was very tall and skinny, and I didn't look like anybody else, I didn't even look like any member of my family.
secret fiction london
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.
hair role-models important
It's not that I have compromised or anything, but it's always been important to me to take good care of myself and be a good example. I'm not much a role model in terms of hair care, though.
taken mean writing
More than anything, that's been the thread through my life - the desire to write, the impulse to write. I mean, it's taken me other places, but it was the impulse to write that led me to singing.