Patti Smith is hitting the road this fall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her iconic debut album, Horses. The singer will be joined by longtime side men guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, who both played on the seminal 1975 LP that is considered a punk classic and is often cited by R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe as the album that made him want to make music.
The Patti Smith Group will be joined by longtime keyboardist/bassist Tony Shanahan and the singer’s son and guitarist, Jackson Smith, on the tour slated to kick off on Oct. 6 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. The outing is then booked to hit Madrid, London, Burssels, Oslo and Paris before moving over to the U.S. for theater gigs in Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. before winding down on Nov. 29 at the Met in Philadelphia.
“Please join us to help celebrate the final ride of our irreverent thoroughbred,” read a statement announcing the run that will mark the first time in 20 years that Smith, 78, has performed the whole album; she celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2005 a that year’s Meltdown Festival in London, which she curated.
Smith’s debut album was released on Arista Records on Nov. 10, 1975 and combined the singer’s urgent, vivid poetry with spiky, minimal arrangements that incorporated reggae rhythms with spoken word and propulsive rock energy. The album produced by the Velvet Underground’s John Cale failed to spawn a chart hit, but it is considered one of the founding text of punk rock and has been enshrined in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry as a historically significant work.
Before she hits the road, Smith will be feted at a March 26 all-star concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, “People Have the Power: Celebrating the Music of Patti Smith,” which will feature appearances by Stipe, former Sonic Youth guitarist Kim Gordon, the National singer Matt Berninger, the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O, Sharon Van Etten, the Kills’ Alison Mosshart, the Kronos Quartet, Ben Harper, Courtney Barnett, Angel Olsen and others.
Last month, Smith assured fans that she was okay after collapsing on stage in São Paulo, Brazil on Jan. 29. “This is letting everyone know that I am fine,” the singer wrote on Instagram along with a selfie in which she was smiling and waving at the camera. “A grossly exaggerated account is being spread by the press and social media. I had some post migraine dizziness. Had a small incident, left the stage, and returned 10 minutes later and talked to the people, told them I was fine and sang them Wing and Because the night.”
The health scare came a month after Smith was ordered by a doctor to rest following a brief stay in an Italian hospital to deal with what was described as a sudden, unnamed illness, resulting in the cancellation of a pair of European shows.
Tickets for the Horses tour will go on sale on Friday (Feb. 14) at 10 a.m. local time, with a pre-sale slated to kick-off on Wednesday (Feb. 12) at 10 a.m. local time; click here for details and check out the full list of dates below.
Oct. 6 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
Oct. 8 – Madrid, Spain @ Teatro Real
Oct. 10 – Bergamo, Italy @ ChorusLife Arena
Oct. 12 – London, U.K. @ London Palladium
Oct. 13 – London, U.K. @ London Palladium
Oct. 15 – Brussels, Belgium @ Cirque Royale
Oct. 16 – Brussels, Belgium @ Cirque Royale
Oct. 18 – Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
Oct. 20 – Paris, France @ L’Olympia
Oct. 21 – Paris, France @ L’Olympia
Nov. 10 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
Nov. 12 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
Nov. 13 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
Nov. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Walt Disney Concert Hall
Nov. 17 – Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre
Nov. 21 – New York, N.Y. @ The Beacon Theatre
Nov. 22 – New York, N.Y. @ The Beacon Theatre
Nov. 24 – Boston, MA @ The Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 28 – Washington D.C., The Anthem
Nov. 29 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
