Patti Smith Makes First Public Appearance of 2024 at National Board of Review Gala After Recent Hospitalization
Smith gave a speech honoring Lily Gladstone at the event nearly one month after she was hospitalized for a "sudden illness" while touring in Italy
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Patti Smith at the National Board Of Review 2024 Awards GalaPatti Smith stepped out on Thursday night to honor actor Lily Gladstone.
Nearly a month after the punk icon, 77, was hospitalized and canceled a string of tour dates in Italy, she made an appearance at the National Board of Review Gala in New York City. At the event — which honors the best in film of the past year as decided by an exclusive group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics — she presented the Killers of the Flower Moon star with the award for best actress.
Smith began her thoughtful speech by joking about how she has more confidence rocking out on stage than she does addressing a star-studded crowd. “Thank you everybody. There’s a lotta you here. It’s a lot easier playing Madison Square Garden. But I’m very excited to be here,” she began, addressing A-listers in the audience like Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Martin Scorsese and others.
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Smith continued to ease into her speech by mentioning how thrilled she was to see Chad Stahelski, the filmmaker behind the John Wick series, and wishing everyone a “happy new moon.”
The “Because the Night” singer then honored the recent Golden Globe winner and her performance in Scorsese’s historical epic about the devastation of the Osage people and their land in 1920s Oklahoma. “It pierces the vein of human weakness, greed, cowardice, and betrayal,” she said of the film before adding, “And what is more piercing than the face of Lily Gladstone as the camera captures the shifting tones of her interior process seamlessly embodying the courageous Mollie Burkhart?”
The singer-songwriter continued, “Within the fabric of the film, even off-screen, Lily is like the new moon that can be felt, but not seen. She has always felt.”
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“Filmmaking is vastly dependent on intense collaboration and all who have taken part in bringing the Killers of the Flower Moon to light should be commended, but sometimes an artist must stand alone and draw solely from herself,” the Just Kids author said. “As Mollie, Lily's sense of the space around and the rushing energy of her own blood can be felt in every gesture, every side glance, in the lift of her head, in the folding of her hands, in the burgeoning illness that can be felt cell by cell that mirrors the afflictions imposed on her people coupled with her stamina to love, to heal and quietly condemn.”
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Before stating what a “great honor” it was to be at the event and presenting Gladstone with the award, Smith concluded, “Courage, humor, intelligence, her mysterious smile, her earthly sensuality, she drew from the many aspects of herself investing them within her spiritual sister, the Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart with steely determination, dignity, and grace.”
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Patti Smith performing at Brooklyn Steel in New York City in December 2023The National Board of Review Gala was Smith’s first major public appearance of the year. Aside from the ceremony, the Grammy-nominated artist played a handful of concerts in late December and has appeared to be in good health since she was hospitalized earlier that month.
At the time, Smith was treated for a “sudden illness” while on tour in Italy, leading to the postponement of several live dates. She was discharged after one day, and posted to Instagram that she was “resting, as the doctor ordered.”
The Godmother of Punk has since returned to the stage, as she closed out 2023 by headlining a show in Chicago and two nights in her native New York City.
Last week, Smith shared another update with fans about how she’s been feeling as of late on Instagram. Along with a sweet, smiling selfie of herself holding up a coffee mug from New Orleans’ Café Du Monde, she wrote in the caption, “This is saying hello. Feeling fine.”
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