VENICE, ITALY - AUGUST 28: Patti Smith attends a red carpet for "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" during the 81st Venice International Film Festival at on August 28, 2024 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
The great Patti Smith is back in the zeitgeist this week, where she belongs. Next month, Smith will celebrate her 80th birthday. On Monday, her soul-shattering debut album Horses will turn 50, and a 50th-anniversary reissue came out last month. Earlier this month, Smith published her memoir Bread Of Angels, her account of the time when she left New York and raised a family with her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith. Smith is a great memoirist in addition to being a rock legend, and the book’s publication has given her a chance to get out there. She also recently shouted out a band that made one of 2025’s best albums. and she was sampled on another of the year’s best.
