Bruce Springsteen has joined the all-star lineup for Wednesday night’s (March 26) all-star tribute to Patti Smith. The Boss will make the trip to Carnegie Hall in New York for the sold–out People Have the Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith show celebrating the 50th anniversary of Smith legendary 1975 debut album, Horses.
In addition to Springsteen, the show will feature appearances from R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, Sharon Van Etten, the Kills’ Alison Mosshart, director Jim Jarmusch, Scarlett Johansson, Kronos Quartet, Ben Harper, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karon O, former Sonic Youth singer/guitarist and solo performer Kim Gordon, Sean Penn, Angel Olsen, Courtney Barnett, Interpol’s Paul Banks, Maggie Rogers, Glen Hansard, Michael Shannon, Jesse Malin, The National’s Matt Berninger and others.
The house band will be lead by Smith’s longtime bassist/keyboardist Tony Shanahan, who will be joined by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, Bob Dylan guitarist Charlie Sexton and Rolling Stones drummer Steve Jordan.
In addition to celebrating the Horses anniversary, the show will also mark the 20th anniversary of City Winery founder and CEO Michael Dorf’s “Music Of” series, which spotlights the work of legendary rockers and benefits nonprofit organizations focused on music education; since 2004, the annual Carnegie Hall series has donated more than $1.8 million to such groups. General admission tickets are sold out, but VIP tickets are still available here.
Springsteen and Smith’s relationship also stretches back nearly half a decade, when the Boss was struggling to figure out how to finish his song “Because the Night” and his engineer, Jimmy Iovine — who was also producing Smith’s 1978 album Easter at the time — suggested he give it to Smith. She worked it over and adding new lyrics in honor of her husband, the MC5’s Fred “Sonic” Smith, and it became her highest-charting single to date, hitting No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Smith will also be hitting the road for a Horses anniversary tour, slated to kick off in Dublin, Ireland on Oct. 6 and criss-cross Europe for a month before landing in Seattle on Nov. 10 for a run of shows that will keep her on the road through a Nov. 29 gig in Philadelphia.
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