Patti Smith. Photo: Steven Sebring

Her musical career may have started with the release of her seminal 1975 debut album Horses, but the seeds of Patti Smith’s artistic expressions had been sown long before that.

A dedicated and inspired poet, she gave her first public reading in a Manhattan church in 1971, and since that day she has never looked back. It is as a poet that she first became known, but when she stepped into the world of music, the two art forms gelled, turning her words into a voice and her music into an anthem, not only for her generation but for practically every generation since.

A Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Smith is listed among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, as well as in Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Artists of all time.

The artistic significance of her work was reaffirmed when The Library of Congress’s National Recording Preservation Board inducted Horses into the National Recording Registry in 2010.

That same year, she was honoured by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers with the Founders Award, representing lifetime achievement.

The following year, Smith’s lifelong contribution and achievements in music were recognised further when she was awarded Sweden’s Polar Music Prize. Smith has released 11 studio albums and written 16 books to date, her most recent release being 2012’s acclaimed Banga album.

Smith continues to work on new projects as well as supporting human rights issues.

Patti Smith will be performing live in Malta with Tony Shanahan and Lenny Kaye at Sir Temi Zammit Hall, University of Malta. Tickets are available online.

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