Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Depp, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O, and More Salute Patti Smith During Tribute Concert in New York City

Michael Stipe, Bruce Springsteen, Susanna Hoffs, Jesse Malin, Courtney Barnett, and more, along with actors and musicians Johnny Depp and Michael Shannon, Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson, and director Jim Jarmusch honored the career of punk poet laureate Patti Smith during a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 26, 2205.

The People Have the Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith at Carnegie Hall in New York City also celebrated the 50th anniversary of Smith’s debut album Horses and marked the 20th anniversary of the Music Of series, started by City Winery founder Michael Dorf. To date, the annual benefit concert has raised more than $2 million to help fund music education programs across the United States, including $130,000 raised from the Smith tribute.

Each year, 100 percent of the net proceeds from the concert benefit non-profit organizations, including Music Will, Save the Music, Young Audiences NY, D’Addario Foundation, Church Street School for Music and Art, Sonic Arts for All, and more.

Since its inception, Dorf’s Music Of series has also honored the music of Bob Dylan, Paul
McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, David Byrne, R.E.M., and Carly Simon, along with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, in 2024.

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[RELATED: Michael Dorf on His 20th Anniversary ‘Music Of’ Tribute to Patti Smith, Being a “Selfish” Philanthropist, and the Future of City Winery]

Opening the evening, Dorf read an excerpt from “Refuge in the City,” an introduction Stipe wrote when he was asked to present Smith with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal in 2024.

“There’s one line that sticks out to me in describing her multiple forms of artistic expression, her poetry, her music, writing, performance, activism,” said Dorf. “He [Stipe] writes”: “The work of a true artist is beyond choice. Patti has always stepped up and done the work rarely stand up to benefits of so many different causes on stages of rock and blow, she remains a vivacious in all of her output, from soundtracks to substack, an artist, a human we should all emulate, given the needs we see all around us today, as she aptly puts it, people have the power to redeem the work of fools.”

Curated by Smith’s longtime bandmate and collaborator Tony Shanahan, the night included a house band featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ bassist Flea, who also doubled on trumpet throughout the evening, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ keyboardist Benmont Tench, the Rolling Stones’ drummer Steve Jordan, and guitarist Charlie Sexton.

The National‘s Matt Berninger kicked off the night with Smith’s “Piss Factory,” a song she wrote with Richard Sohl in 1974 and released on the 1977 compilation New Wave, her musings on working in a baby buggy factory in New Jersey as a teenager.

The first song from Horses was introduced by fellow New York City rocker Malin, who suffered a rare spinal stroke in 2023 but stood to perform “Free Money,” written about Smith’s lottery-dreaming mother’s hopes at one day winning it big. Malin was followed by Courtney Barnett, who delivered another track from the album, “Redondo Beach.”

As much as the evening was about celebrating Horses, it also made poignant stops in Smith’s music and poetry, including her second album Radio Ethiopia. Sharon Van Etten’s powerful rendition of “Pissing in the River,” who sounded more like and embodying Smith with each verse.

The set, which ran for nearly three hours, included plenty of Smith’s poetry, including “Cowboy Truths,” a piece she wrote for her former boyfriend, the late playwright and actor Sam Shepard. More readings filled the night, with Jarmusch sharing more of her poetry and lyrics, along with an added piece by one of Smith’s favorite poets, Arthur Rimbaud, which he read from his phone, joking that the French poet texted him the English translation.

“I think Arthur wrote this for Patti, but their timelines crossed,” joked Jarmusch. “So this is for Patti from Arthur,” he added before reading the French poet’s 1873 poem “Departure.”

Taking a deep breath in before starting, Scarlett ohansson delivered moving readings of letters Smith wrote to her late friend and collaborator, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, “Dear Robert” and “Reflecting.”

Back to Horses, the Kronos Quartet shared a new rendition of the closing instrumental “Élégie,” while Stipe took on Smith’s ode to British poet William Blake, “My Blakean Year,” backed by Smith’s daughter Jesse on keyboards and guitarist Andy LeMaster.

Throughout the second half of the evening, Smith’s 1978 album Easter was introduced with Ben Harper surrounded by the house band for “Ghost Dance” and Angel Olsen taking the title track.

The Kills’ Alison Mosshart performed the final Radio Ethiopia track of the night, “Ask the Angels.” Mosshart returned later, alongside Depp on vocals and guitar, for a duet of Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot” with each taking on a verse and singing through the chorus together.

Dancing around the Carnegie stage, the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs sang “Kimberly,” a song Smith wrote for her sister. “The night was buzzing with love—love for our adored Patti Smith who changed the course my life with her music, her poetry, her artistry, her humanity—and inspired me and countless others to follow their dreams,” Hoffs told American Songwriter after the concert.

“It was an honor and a joy to sing Kimberly, a song about her baby sister, on that iconic stage, in that glorious venue,” added Hoffs. “Endless gratitude to Patti for inviting me to join all of the wonderful musicians last night, and an exquisite pleasure to celebrate her.”

Interpol’s Paul Banks and wife Juliet took on “Mother Rose” before Kim Gordon and her Body/Head partner Bill Nace made some noise after her reading from Smith’s 1973 book of poetry, Witt.

Showcasing how the annual concert benefits music education in schools, the Music Will Students from Lower Manhattan Community School performed “Paths That Cross.” Actor Sean Penn surprised the audience with a reading of Smith’s “The Golden Cockerel” before Glen Hansard delivered a rousing performance of “Beneath the Southern Cross” from 1996.

Maggie Rogers filled in last-minute for the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, who could not get a flight out of London due to the fires at Heathrow Airport, and tested the capacity of the Carnegie acoustics with an early ode of Smith’s to her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, “Frederick.”

Peeling off her black boa, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O had the room at Carnegie chanting G-L-O-R-I-A with a stomping rendition of Smith’s Horses anthem “Gloria” before everyone stood for Springsteen, who stepped out for his rendition of the song he co-wrote with Smith decades earlier, another song about Fred, “Because the Night.”

“We love ya, Patti,” said Springsteen before performing. “Patti gave me this big hit, right here, I’m about to sing. If I had sung this song, it would not have been a hit. It needed her voice and her incredible lyrics. So Patti, I have to thank you, so dearly, for our one big hit together. Thank you, darling.”

To close the night, Smith and her band, including original guitarist Lenny Kaye, shared “Peaceable Kingdom,” a song she wrote with Shanahan in 2003 for the late American activist Rachel Corrie.

A vessel for empowerment and leaving off with a message, Smith, now 78, segued into her 1988 anthem “People Have the Power,” which she co-wrote with Fred alongside her daughter Jesse Paris on keyboards and son Jackson on guitar. By the end of the song, Smith was surrounded by the performers from the evening.

After ending on the final line of the song, it’s decreed that the people rule. People have the power, Smith added, “Don’t ever forget it. Use your f–king voice.”

Main Photo: Al Pereira