Culture

Patti Smith's biggest hits

  • Patti Smith (Imago/ZUMA Press)

    Poetry meets Rock'n'Roll

    Patti Smith had French poetry and 1960s rock icons on her mind - a combination that became her very own style. Her songs were covered, mixed, and new lyrics were added all the time. By the means of poetry, she transported the wild, rebellious rock of the 1960s into a new era.

  • CD Cover Horses , shows singer (Arista Usa/Sony Music)

    Gloria

    Her best friend, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, created this cover image for the 1975 album "Horses" - which became a veritable soundtrack for the anti-establishment sentiments of the 1970s. By no means did Patti aim to be a sexy rock star - she wanted to be a rebel. She made this more than clear in her own version of the Van Morrison song "Gloria."

  • CD Cover Because the Night (Record Plant)

    Because the Night

    Three years later, Smith's international breakthrough came with album number three, "Easter," featuring a pop song co-written with Bruce Springsteen. The track had nothing to do with radicalism but rather was somewhat of a declaration of love to guitar player Fred "Sonic" Smith. The cover of the single "Because The Night" shows a frail and feminine version of Smith.

  • Patti Smith (Imago/Leemage)

    Frederick

    "Wave," Patti Smith's most commercial album, was produced by Todd Rundgren and released in 1979. "Frederick" is dedicated to her lover Fred: "Bye bye, hey hey, Maybe we will come back some day, now. But tonight on the wings of a dove, Up above to the land of love." The couple tied the knot one year later.

  • Patti Smith on stage (Imago/ZUMA Press)

    Dancing Barefoot

    Also featured on the album "Wave," Rolling Stone magazine lists "Dancing Barefoot" as one of the 500 best songs of all times. It's a haunting description of the emotions and confusion that feelings of love typically seem to trigger in Patti Smith. "Rolling Stone" magazine that Smith masturbated to the album cover photo.

  • Patti Smith on stage, arms outstretched (Imago/Leemage)

    Smells Like Teen Spirit

    On the 2007 album "Twelve," Patti Smith covers 12 songs, including a hit song by Nirvana, whose singer/song writer Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994. Patti Smith successfully distills the essence of "Smells like Teen Spirit" and presents it in a plain, acoustic way, while still reflecting her signature poetic style of approaching lyrics.

  • Patti Smith and Bob Dylan (Getty Images/Redferns/E. Roberts)

    A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

    Patti Smith's good friend Bob Dylan helped her out of a major career slump at the end of the 1990s. On December 10, 2016, she reciprocated, attending the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for absentee laureate Dylan, and singing one of his best-known songs, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."


Patti Smith never wanted to be a punk rock icon, but her music had a strong influence on rock music in the 1970s. "Three chord rock merged with the power of the word" - that's how she described her style.

  • Date 30.12.2016
  • Author Silke Wünsch (db)