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.
Last night, Patti Smith was a guest on Stephen Colbert's Late Show. She sat for an interview with Colbert, and she radiated warmth and charm all over the place. As a beautiful little bonus, Smith also performed on the show, even though she doesn't have new music to promote. Accompanied by her bandmate and co-writer Tony Shanahan, Smith sang a stripped-down rendition of "Peaceable Kingdom," a song from her 2004 album Trampin'. When she hits that spoken-word moment? Come on, man.
Smith also recently went on CBS Mornings to talk about her book. She spoke with great emotion about the man who raised her.
On Instagram last week, Smith posted photos of a few books that will share shelf space with hers, and she wrote, "The Geese were on the radio, 100 Horses, suddenly I felt optimistic." The Geese -- or just Geese, whatever -- make music that's clearly indebted to what Smith and her peers did in the '70s, and it's cool to see that the affection runs both ways.
Finally, there's the Rosalía thing. Last night, Rosalía released her new album LUX. I am still processing it, but it's a staggering achievement on every level. Rosalía is a student of the game, and LUX includes a few nods to her forebears. She's been shouting out Kate Bush in interviews lately, and I definitely hear echoes of Bush on LUX. Björk appears on the single "Berghain." And on "La Yugular," Rosalía samples a recording of Smith reading one of her poems in 1976.
