Patti Smith apologizes for canceling show after collapsing onstage in Brazil

By Canadian Press on January 30, 2025.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Veteran singer and poet Patti Smith collapsed during a presentation in Brazil on Wednesday night, and later returned to apologize for needing to end her show early.

Video published on social media showed the 78-year-old lying on the ground.

“I’m fine. You can hear I’m fine,” she told The Associated Press when reached by phone. “The whole thing has been grossly exaggerated.”

She added that a statement she published on her Instagram on Thursday morning, in which she said she had experienced post-migraine dizziness, “speaks for itself.”

“I was checked out by an excellent doctor and was absolutely fine. Please do not accept any other account. With all the strife in the world, this explainable incident does not merit so much attention,” Smith posted.

The Cultura Artística Theater, a small concert venue in Sao Paulo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Smith would perform on Thursday night.

Smith has been in Sao Paulo for a two-day presentation of the “Correspondences” project with the Berlin-based group Soundwalk Collective. During the performance, she recited some of her writings alongside musicians.

Soundwalk Collective said that Smith had suffered from an intense migraine for the past couple of days but “still wanted to be there for all of us and you and perform.” The group posted a statement, signed by them and Smith, to their Instagram stories.

Smith collapsed about 30 minutes into the event while reading a text about climate change, according to local media. She fell on stage and remained there for a few minutes before receiving assistance.

“She clearly felt dizzy. She started moving backward and fell in a way — I think she tried to support herself on the microphone or the music stand. And everything fell on top of her. It was a bizarre scene,” Micheline Alves, a journalist who was sitting in one of the front rows, said in a phone interview.

Alves said that a doctor, who was in the audience, went onstage to check on Smith. “After a few minutes, we saw that she wasn’t unconscious. She got up on her own,” Alves added.

She was then placed in a wheelchair and taken backstage. She later returned in a wheelchair and apologized, video on local media showed.

“Unfortunately, I got sick, and the doctor said I can’t finish. So we will have to figure something out. And I feel very badly,” Smith said.

The audience responded in English: “Don’t be! We love you!” The artist then sang “Wing” and “Because the Night” a capella.

“It was very beautiful because she was very sad, very vulnerable about not being able to do the show,” said Alves.

—

Italie reported from New York.

Gabriela Sá Pessoa And Hillel Italie, The Associated Press