Patti Smith (born Patricia Lee Smith on December 30, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and poet.

She was influential in the birth of the punk movement with her 1975 debut album Horses. Called "Punk's Poet Laureate" she integrated the Beat poetry performance style with garage-band Rock and Roll. Her allusions introduced 19th century French poetry to American teens, while her androgynous public persona and "unladylike" language defied the disco era.

Smith is perhaps most widely known for the song "Because the Night", which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen and reached number 13 on Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine counted her 47th in its list of the "The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and in 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.