The character arc of Patti Smith

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 30 December 1946 in Chicago. Between then and now sit a first public poetry performance on 10 February 1971, a first single in 1974, Horses in 1975, Because the Night in 1978, Wave in 1979, Dream of Life in 1988, Gone Again in 1996, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, Just Kids and the National Book Award in 2010 and Bread of Angels in 2025. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Patti Smith?

A poet first, and a poet since.

She was born in Chicago in 1946. On 10 February 1971 she gave her first public poetry performance, accompanied by Lenny Kaye on electric guitar, which is the moment everything else grows from. It was a poetry reading with a guitar in it, not a concert, and the difference matters: she arrived at music sideways, from words.

In 1974 she recorded a first single, funded independently, and in 1975 released Horses, which is still argued about as one of the records that changed what a rock album could contain. Radio Ethiopia followed in 1976, Easter in 1978, whose song Because the Night reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100, and Wave in 1979. Then she largely stopped, for most of a decade, and lived in Michigan with her family.

Dream of Life came in 1988 and Gone Again in 1996, and the records have continued since: Peace and Noise, Gung Ho, Trampin', Twelve and Banga. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. And then, in 2010, at sixty three, Just Kids won the National Book Award. It is a memoir of her years in New York with the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and winning that prize as a musician, thirty five years after Horses, is an unusual second act by any measure. M Train followed in 2015, Year of the Monkey in 2019 and Bread of Angels in 2025.

The moments

Patti Smith's timeline.

The 1970s

10 Feb 1971

A first reading

Milestone, and it changed everything. A poetry reading with an electric guitar in it. Everything else grows from this.

1 Jan 1974

Stay on the page, or record

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: make a record, taken, or keep reading poetry. Horses is still argued about as one of the records that changed what a rock album could be.

Jun 1974

A first single

Milestone, and it changed everything. Funded independently, before any label was interested.

10 Nov 1975

Horses

Milestone, and it changed everything. Still argued about as one of the records that changed what a rock album could contain.

Mar 1978

Because the Night

Milestone, and it changed everything. A hit single, which she had never been trying for.

17 May 1979

Wave

Milestone, and it changed her direction. The last record of that band, and then a long silence.

The 1980s

Jun 1980

She stepped away

Setback, and it changed everything. Most of a decade away from the work everybody knew her for.

Jun 1988

Dream of Life

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A return after nine years, and then another gap.

The 1990s

18 Jun 1996

Gone Again

Milestone, and it changed everything. Back properly, and six more albums followed.

The 2000s

12 Mar 2007

The Hall of Fame

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Thirty two years after Horses.

The 2010s

17 Nov 2010

The National Book Award

Milestone, and it changed everything. Sixty three years old, a musician, and the biggest book prize in the country.

6 Oct 2015

M Train

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Three more books, written in her seventies.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is a body of work that never chose between the two things she does, and a memoir written in her sixties that won the biggest book prize in her country.

What she wrote

Books by Patti Smith

2010
Just Kids
Her memoir of New York with Robert Mapplethorpe. It won the National Book Award in 2010, when she was sixty three.
2015
M Train
A book about coffee, travel and loss, built out of her own notebooks.
2019
Year of the Monkey
A year of travelling and thinking, written at seventy two.
2025
Bread of Angels
Her most recent book, published at seventy eight.

Your turn

Every line draws a unique story.

Hers started as a poetry reading and won a book prize thirty five years later. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

Step through

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Patti Smith: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Patti Smith's character arc?

A poet who gave her first public reading with an electric guitar in 1971, crossed into rock music and made one of the records that changed the form, stepped away for most of a decade, and then won the National Book Award at sixty three.

What is Horses by Patti Smith?

Her debut album, released in 1975, which is still argued about as one of the records that changed what a rock album could contain. She came to it from poetry rather than from music.

What is Just Kids by Patti Smith?

Her memoir of 2010, about her years in New York with the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. It won the National Book Award that year, when she was sixty three and best known as a musician.

Did Patti Smith stop making music?

For most of a decade, yes. After Wave in 1979 she released nothing until Dream of Life in 1988, and then nothing again until Gone Again in 1996, having lived in Michigan with her family.

What was Patti Smith's hit single?

Because the Night, from the album Easter, which reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. It is the closest she came to a conventional hit, and she had not been trying for one.

Is Patti Smith in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Yes, inducted in 2007, thirty two years after Horses. She was by then also a published writer, and the National Book Award for Just Kids followed three years later, in 2010.

What books has Patti Smith written?

Just Kids in 2010, M Train in 2015, Year of the Monkey in 2019 and Bread of Angels in 2025, alongside poetry collections published across the whole of her working life.

Where does this timeline of Patti Smith's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Patti Smith isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Patti Smith, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
National Book Foundation, non-fiction, 2010.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2007 inductees.