Celebrated American singer, songwriter, author and activist Patti Smithhas been announced as the recipient of the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts.
The Princess of Austurias Awards are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain to individuals, entities or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs. They are presented every October in a ceremony at Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, the capital of the Principality of Asturias.
The 79-year-old artist will receive the award for "her impetuous creativity that connects rock, symbolist poetry and the spirit of the counterculture with great expressive power".
The jury read the verdict this today in the Covadonga Hall of the Eurostars Hotel de La Reconquista in Oviedo.
The award is part of a long series of recognitions for the singer and songwriter which include, among others, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2007), the National Book Award for her memoir "Just Kids" (2010) and the Legion of Honour and the Order of Arts and Letters in France (2022).
Her seminal debut solo album 'Horses' (1975) entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021.
Smith's most recent book, "Bread of Angels" was published last year, her third memoir after “Just Kids” and “M Train”.
