Patti Smith was a central figure in the 1970s New York pre-punk scene who was influenced by musicians like Jimi Hendrix and poets. She originally wanted to be a poet but pursued a musical direction, applying poetry through her haunting songs. Smith covered songs from various genres unexpectedly and was known for her masculine appearance and manly singing tones that challenged gender stereotypes of the time.

2. Patti Smith was a central figure in the early 1970’s New York pre-punk scene She was a poet, an actress and a musician

3. Patti has been influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin & Harry Smith who introduced her to American folk & blues Her music has a haunting quality to it

4. She had a very manly look about her- she didn’t have a feminine body, or feminine style She often sang in deep manly tones

5. She originally always wanted to be a poet, but her aspiration took her in a musical direction and she seems to apply her poetry to her music In her song ‘Piss Factory’ she doesn’t sing but speaks, as if she is reciting poetry over the music In particular she was fond of applying cut-up methods to her songs. Cut-ups in literature is when randomly selected writers can be cut up, juxtaposed, and sampled in a form of collage writing, which had already influenced David Bowie

6. She sang a lot of covers, and from a range of genres that you perhaps wouldn’t expect from her, for example: ‘Perfect Day’ by Lou Reed ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana ‘Gimme Shelter’ by The Rolling Stones ‘My Generation’ by The Who ‘Pastime Paradise’ by Stevie Wonder ‘When Doves Cry’ by Prince ‘Wicked Messenger’ by Bob Dylan ‘With or Without you’ by The Beatles

9. She challenges sexist stereotypes with her masculine persona

10. Portrays her fascination with language into her lyrics, in the form of poetry and the lyrical collages