This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Patti Smith article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the subject of the article.

Add new text under old text. New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help. Start a new topic Assume good faith Be polite and avoid personal attacks Be welcoming to newcomers Seek dispute resolution if needed Article policies Neutral point of view No original research Verifiability

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1, 2, 3Auto-archiving period: 2 years

	Patti Smith was one of the Music good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
Article milestones Date Process Result January 31, 2008 Peer review Reviewed February 3, 2008 Good article nominee Not listed March 6, 2008 Good article nominee Listed September 30, 2017 Good article reassessment Kept February 10, 2026 Good article reassessment Delisted Current status: Delisted good article

This  level-5 vital article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.

Biography: Musicians This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography This article is supported by WikiProject Musicians (assessed as High-importance). This article has had a peer review which is now archived. Rock music High‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Rock music, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Rock music on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Rock musicWikipedia:WikiProject Rock musicTemplate:WikiProject Rock musicRock music High This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale. Punk music (inactive) This article is within the scope of WikiProject Punk music, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.Punk musicWikipedia:WikiProject Punk musicTemplate:WikiProject Punk musicPunk music Poetry Mid‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Poetry, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of poetry on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoetryWikipedia:WikiProject PoetryTemplate:WikiProject PoetryPoetry Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale. Chicago Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Chicago, which aims to improve all articles or pages related to Chicago or the Chicago metropolitan area.ChicagoWikipedia:WikiProject ChicagoTemplate:WikiProject ChicagoChicago Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. Women writers High‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women writers, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of women writers on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women writersWikipedia:WikiProject Women writersTemplate:WikiProject Women writersWomen writers High This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale. Women This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of women on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.WomenWikipedia:WikiProject WomenTemplate:WikiProject WomenWikiProject Women Women in Music High‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women in Music, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Women in music on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women in MusicWikipedia:WikiProject Women in MusicTemplate:WikiProject Women in MusicWomen in music High This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale. Photography Mid‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Photography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of photography on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PhotographyWikipedia:WikiProject PhotographyTemplate:WikiProject PhotographyPhotography Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Why do we have a Legacy section? She's not dead. GA-RT-22 (talk) 19:01, 4 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@GA-RT-22 no need to be dead to have a legacy section. For example see Mick Jaggar, still alive but has a legacy section because he/his work has influenced other notable musicians. Same is true for Smith. S0091 (talk) 19:10, 4 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Her legacy is in the 70s and late 80s, where most of her famous songs were created. Heylenny (talk) 07:33, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I have commenced a tidy-up of the Bibliography section:

• Cite templates will be used where possible.
• I prefer capitalization and punctuation to follow the standard cataloguing rules in AACR2 and RDA, rather than "title case".
• Links (either direct or indirect) to potentially unreliable or incomplete digitised copies and to booksellers may be removed.

This is a work in progress; feel free to continue. Sunwin1960 (talk) 11:07, 28 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Please consider adding this part, I couldn't do it:

'Patti Smith's "M Train" details her unexpected 2007 meeting with Bobby Fischer in Iceland. She told Jeffrey Brown, PBS NewsHour that the reclusive chess legend, a rock 'n' roll fan, sang to her until dawn, performing classics from the Chi-Lites, the Four Tops, and Chuck Berry, despite his "terrible singing." Their shared literary interests led to a friendship that lasted until Fischer's death in 2008. "How Patti Smith's midnight encounter with Bobby Fischer sparked an 'abstract friendship'"How Patti Smith’s midnight encounter with Bobby Fischer sparked an ‘abstract friendship’. YouTube. October 21, 2015. YolBlog (talk) 11:11, 2 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

For one thing, she supported Ralph Nader in at least some of his runs for president:

In October 2000, at the largest Super Rally of his campaign, held in New York City's Madison Square Garden, 15,000 people paid $20 each to hear Nader speak.... A long list of notable celebrities spoke and performed at the event including Susan Sarandon, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, Tim Robbins, Michael Moore, Eddie Vedder and Patti Smith.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#2000

2004 notable Nader endorsers: David Brower, Patti Smith, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Phil Donahue

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Presidential_campaigns

2008: Nader was endorsed by Howard Zinn, Jesse Ventura, Justin Jeffre, Tom Morello, Val Kilmer, Rocky Anderson, James Abourezk, Patti Smith, and Jello Biafra.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#2008

Here is her cover blurb for Nader's 2025 book Civic Self-Respect:

"With the deepest concern for the fate of our country and future generations, Ralph Nader presents an indispensable guide to understanding our rights, our responsibilities and the rules of law. In Civic Self-Respect we are given tools to develop our civic personality, turn knowledge into action and prove that the people have the power." —Patti Smith M.mk (talk) 15:32, 10 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Was a Jewish pilot who died in 1965. The article needs updating ? I saw an interview where she says this - after dna test . Battiatofan (talk) 00:53, 5 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Sunwin1960: For you in particular, but for also for everyone else.

There is a comment in the "Bibliography" section which states "Split into genres", but I am unable to determine at present what the genres are (unless it means the subsection titles "Books" and "Essays and reporting"). (I came here to add her new book:)

• Smith, Patti (4 November 2025). Bread of Angels: A Memoir (First hardcover ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1101875124. OCLC 1527217257.

Not coming from a strict cataloging background, I personally prefer title case per MOS:TITLECAPS (as well as Help:Citation Style 1), and had not heard of the guides Sunwin1960 mentions above until now. I don't normally use full dates, except in these cases—in the author's article. —DocWatson42 (talk) 09:16, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Edit: Please clarify the genres. —DocWatson42 (talk) 09:17, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Her books could be further categorised with subheadings such as Fiction, Nonfiction, Novels, Poetry, Plays etc. Not essential, but may be useful. Sunwin1960 (talk) 11:10, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not familiar enough with her writing at this time to do so. ^_^; I was asking because I thought that the comment indicated that it had already been done.

I also just noticed that the "Library resources box" template is in the "External links" section. I'd like to move it to the "Further reading" section, as that has long struck me as the more appropriate place for that template. —DocWatson42 (talk) 11:28, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It has been a while since this article was last reviewed, so I took a look and noticed lots of uncited statements, including entire paragraphs. Should this go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 19:49, 27 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]