Patti Smith, the veteran singer and poet, has reassured her fans that she is “fine” after collapsing during a performance in Brazil. She later returned to the stage to apologize to the audience for cutting her show short.
A video shared on social media showed the 78-year-old lying on the stage in Sao Paulo on Wednesday night. However, Smith clarified the situation when she spoke to The Associated Press the following morning, saying, “I’m fine. You can hear I’m fine,” and adding that the incident had been “grossly exaggerated.”
Smith explained in an Instagram post that she had experienced dizziness after a migraine, and she was thoroughly checked by a doctor, assuring her fans she was perfectly fine. She also urged people not to pay attention to exaggerated reports, saying, “With all the strife in the world, this explainable incident does not merit so much attention.”
The Cultura Artística Theater has not yet responded to inquiries about whether Patti Smith will perform on Thursday night.
Smith has been in Sao Paulo for a two-day presentation of her “Correspondences” project with the Berlin-based Soundwalk Collective. During the performance, she recited some of her writings while accompanied by musicians.
The Soundwalk Collective shared that Patti Smith had been struggling with a severe migraine for several days but still wanted to perform for her audience. The group posted a statement on Instagram, signed by both Smith and themselves, explaining the situation.
According to local media, Smith collapsed about 30 minutes into the performance while reading a passage about climate change. She fell on stage and stayed there for a few minutes before being helped. Micheline Alves, a journalist who was sitting in the front row, described the scene in a phone interview, saying, “She clearly felt dizzy. She started moving backward and fell in a way— I think she tried to steady herself on the microphone or music stand. Then everything fell on top of her. It was a bizarre scene.”
Micheline Alves mentioned that a doctor in the audience went onstage to check on Patti Smith after her collapse. “After a few minutes, we saw she wasn’t unconscious. She got up on her own,” Alves explained.
Smith was then placed in a wheelchair and taken backstage, but later returned in the same wheelchair to apologize to the audience, as seen in video footage shared by local media.
“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 reassured her in English, saying, “Don’t be! We love you!” Smith then performed “Wing” and “Because the Night” a cappella.
Alves noted how emotional the moment was, describing Smith as being “very sad, very vulnerable about not being able to do the show,” which made the performance even more moving.