Patti Smith

Patti Smith is a rock singer-songwriter and poet associated with the New York City punk movement of the mid and late 1970s.

Like her contemporaries The Ramones, Smith adopted elements of the 1960s garage rock and Girl Group pop into her music, but she added the strong influence of Beat poetry (such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg) and overtones of blues. Her 1975 debut, Horses remains her most influential album, but much of her subsequent work has won acclaim, including 1978's Easter, 1988's Dream of Life and 2004's Trampin'. Smith was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

A documentary of her life and music, Patti Smith: Dream of Life debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.