Patti Smith greets every question with a mixture of mischief and philosophy. “I’ve never believed in finishing lines,” she says. “You just keep walking. Sometimes the road’s rocky, sometimes it’s smooth, but it’s all the same journey.”
For someone so revered – a pioneer of punk poetry, author of Just Kids, performer of timeless, spine-tightening songs – she remains astonishingly humble.
“I never thought I’d be doing this in my 70s,” she smiles. “As a young woman I imagined I’d burn out early. But the fire stayed; quieter sometimes, but still warm.”
It’s a trajectory few could have predicted back in 1975 when her debut album Horses helped ignite the New York punk scene, fusing Rimbaud-inflected poetry with raw garage rock. Five decades on, that album’s 50th anniversary has been marked with reissues and sold-out shows, while Smith continues to release new work – including recent recordings with the New York-based Soundwalk Collective – and tour steadily with her band. She’s also a lauded memoirist – her first of three (so far!), Just Kids, published in 2010, won the National Book Award.
“I fill notebooks like some people fill shopping trolleys,” she laughs. “I’m working on poems, fragments, maybe another memoir. I don’t really decide what becomes a book; the work tells me when it’s ready.”
“Even the small things – a scrap of paper on a pavement, a stranger humming – can open something in you.”
Touring, too, remains central.
“The stage is my home. I love the faces – young fans discovering me for the first time, older ones who’ve been with me since the Hotel Chelsea days. It’s a conversation across generations.”
Despite her legendary status, Smith speaks openly about self-doubt.
“Every new project demands courage,” she admits, “but I’ve never been afraid of vulnerability. That’s where the art lives.”
Ask her what keeps her grounded and the answer comes instantly: her family.
“My children saved me many times,” she says, referencing son Jackson, daughter Jesse, and another daughter she placed for adoption when she was 19, but later reconnected with.
“They’ve taught me patience, humour, the beauty of letting things grow at their own pace.”
Her partner, the late Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith, remains a spiritual presence.
“I still talk to him,” she says. “I still feel guided.”
As for the future, Smith’s eyes light up.
“I’m excited. Isn’t that lovely? To be this far in and still excited?
I want to keep touring, keep writing, keep showing up for people. The world is difficult right now, but music… music tells the truth.”
In typical Patti Smith style, she ends on a note that feels like a blessing.
“If I have a message, it’s this: stay awake to the world. Even the small things – a scrap of paper on a pavement, a stranger humming – can open something in you.”
And then, she adds: “Inspiration doesn’t shout; it whispers.”
Available now a radiant new memoir from beloved artist and writer Patti Smith, Bread of Angels, published by Bloomsbury.
