What happened to Patti Smith? Priestess of Rock hospitalized during her Italian tour

Patti Smith canceled her show in Bologna on December 12, after being rushed to the Maggiore Hospital with a "sudden illness", as reported by TGCOM24. This comes after her most recent performance on December 9 at the Modena Cathedral, which was part of her Italian tour.

The Duse Theatre, in a press release, apologized to the artist's fans as they announced that she would not be able to perform owing to her health.

"With great regret, we inform the kind audience that Patti Smith's concert will not be able to go on stage due to a sudden illness that struck the artist. We are all sorry for the inconvenience caused by this news. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery go to the artist," they wrote.

The Local Health Authority of Bologna on December 13, announced that although Patti has now been discharged from the hospital and is in good health, she has been advised to rest.

Her next performance on December 14, at the Teatro Malibran in Venice, and her appearance in Milan on December 15 reportedly stand canceled, as per OndaRock.

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More about Patti Smith's recent tour

Patti Smith began her Italy tour in Ancona on November 28 and then headed to Bari, Naples, and Modena over the next two weeks. Post her Italy tour, Smith will return to the U.S. to perform in Chicago on December 27 and December 29 and is scheduled to take the stage in Brooklyn, New York on December 30.

Known as the "high priestess of punk-poetry" Patti Smith gained recognition in the 1970s as New York's punk rock scene became more established. Her 1975 debut record, Horses, helped her rise to fame and was hailed by fans and critics alike.

Some of her other notable albums include Radio Ethiopia, Easter, Wave, and Gone Again. She is also known for tracks like Because the Night, Dancing Barefoot, and People Have the Power.

However, in 1979, and the 1980s, Smith disappeared from the public eye and moved to Detroit with her husband, MC5 guitarist, Fred "Sonic" Smith. After his death in 1994, she returned to the music industry and released her comeback album, Gone Again.

Smith is also a poet and has published collections of poetry, including the highly acclaimed 2010 memoir, Just Kids, which earned her a National Book Award for Nonfiction.

While speaking to Harper's Bazaar in 2022 about her diverse interests, Smith said:

"So many vocations, and why couldn’t I stick to one? I just can’t. It’s funny because every once in a while, somebody very nicely says I have all these different ways of expressing myself, I’m a Renaissance woman, but I think more I’m really a jack-of-all-trades."

Patti Smith was also featured in a series of art exhibitions at the Andy Warhol Museum in 2022, and at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2014. Additionally, she was named a "Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French Ministry of Culture in 2005.