Patti Smith shares health update after Italy hospitalization - Los Angeles Times
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Gloria! Patti Smith reassures fans she’s ‘resting’ after sudden hospitalization in Italy

Patti Smith in a black blazer and a white shirt posing against a black background
Patti Smith said she is recovering after she was hospitalized for a sudden illness in Bologna, Italy.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
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High priestess of punk-poetry Patti Smith said she looks forward to fulfilling her “ happy obligations” after a sudden illness left her hospitalized in Bologna, Italy.

The “Gloria” rocker, 76, reassured fans that she is in good health and eager to return to the stage in an Instagram photo posted Thursday morning. Smith shared a picture of herself smiling surrounded by eight medical personnel in a hospital hallway. She thanked the team at Bologna’s Maggiore hospital “for their help and guidance.”

The city’s Teatro Duse announced in an Instagram statement shared Tuesday that it had canceled Smith’s concert “due to a sudden illness that struck the artist.” A week before the cancellation, Patti performed her music in Italian cities Bari, Schio, Modena and Siena.

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Singer-songwriter Patti Smith is on the mend after she was hospitalized for a sudden illness before a concert at Teatro Duse in Bologna, Italy.

Dec. 13, 2023

The Local Health Authority of Bologna confirmed to The Times on Wednesday that the singer was hospitalized and released after a “short period of observation in emergency medicine.”

“Patti Smith is discharged and in good health conditions,” continued the statement, which was translated from Italian to English via Google. The medical team also said it hoped to see the singer onstage soon after “an appropriate period of rest.”

Because of the health scare, the singer’s show in Venice was canceled Thursday. In her post, Smith said that she regretted having to cancel the Bologna and Venice concerts and that she intended to return to perform those shows .

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It’s unclear when the “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” singer will return. Representatives for Smith did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for more information.

A woman in a black outfit surrounded by eight people in scrubs and white medical gear standing in a hospital hallway
Patti Smith was released from Bologna’s Maggiore hospital on Wednesday after a sudden illness.
(International Music & Arts)

Ever contemplative, the “Horses” musician also used her Instagram post to thank her fans for their support, praise medical professionals around the world and acknowledge her access to medical care.

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“I am resting, as the doctor ordered, grateful to have such care, though being painfully aware that many are not so fortunate,” she wrote.

Smith, a 2007 Rock & Hall of Fame inductee and four-time Grammy nominee, is set to close out the year with several shows in the United States, according to her website. On Dec. 27, she will perform at the Salt Shed in Chicago. Smith will travel to New York for two shows at the Brooklyn Steel on Dec. 29 and 30.

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