“Being devoted”: The artist Patti Smith will forever be a fan of
As well as being a musical pioneer and a literary icon, one of the most beautiful things about Patti Smith’s presence in culture is that she is still a fan, too. Despite existing in the realm of the most respected legends, she has never for a second looked down on her supporters or brushed off the vital role that fans play in the world of music. She admires fans so much that she counts herself among them, remaining utterly devoted to one artist her entire life.
It’s always a dull and tiring thing when an artist turns on their supporters. Too often, there are stories in music of acts seeming to become bitter or cold towards people who like their music or mock the listeners whose career is built on the back of. We see instances like Thom Yorke telling his fans to fuck off or Liam Gallagher telling his supporters to “shut up” and deeming them the “rudest fans in the world”.
In particular, teenage female fans get it worse. Historically, adolescent music lovers have been brushed off as pathetic or embarrassing. The things they like become mocked by the ‘cooler’, ‘edgier’ circles as if being a fan of something, or in fact being an artist with fans, somehow makes them lame.
For years, people have tried to rally against this stereotype. Hannah Ewens tracked the incredible impact that female fans have on the music industry in Fangirls: Scenes from Modern Music Culture. Female artists like Carrie Brownstein and Viv Albertine both make a point in their memoirs about how their journey to music-making began by being dedicated fans at concerts. Even modern artists like Erin Lecount has written about the way that despite being looked down upon, young female music fans actually make the world go round, with big bosses and label executives looking towards their behaviours and the artists they like to predict trends, writing, “fan girls are the backbone of the music industry.”
So, to see someone like Patti Smith talking so proudly and openly about being a devoted fan of other artists is so beautiful. She has never been shy about it, writing in Just Kids about how she cut her hair to look like her idol Keith Richards or how her lifelong love for Bob Dylan even led her to act pretty uncool in front of the folk star when she first met him.
But it’s her love for Jimi Hendrix that keeps her utterly hooked and has for decades. “I don’t really buy that many records because I’m still listening to Jimi Hendrix!” she said, adding tenderly as a beautiful nod to the young fans that keep music alive, “Being devoted to a certain singer or a certain group is one of the joys, I think, of being young.”
Smith’s love for Hendrix is well-documented. Of course, she loves him as a musical legend whose guitar playing and songwriting deeply inspired her own, prompting her to cover his song ‘Hey Joe’ as her debut release as a nod to her idol. But on a more human level, there are some fantastic quotes where Smith talking about Hendrix sounds like any fan girl talking about their favourite artist, stating, “He was everything you would want in your rock and roll star.”
As she added, “Just to look at him was an experience,” almost blushing in a conversation with Forbes, it’s clear that Patti Smith was a fan girl, just like you or I. And to her, that’s one of the most beautiful things you can be.
