Patti Smith, Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts 2026: icon of rock, poetry, and rebellion

The American artist Patti Smith has been distinguished with the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts 2026, as announced by the jury gathered in Oviedo, which has highlighted her enormous cultural influence after more than five decades of career.

Considered a key figure of rock, poetry, and counterculture, Smith has built a career in which she has combined music and literature with iconic works such as Because the Night, alongside Bruce Springsteen, or People Have the Power. Her debut with Horses in 1975 marked a before and after by introducing a feminist and intellectual look within punk.

The jury has highlighted its “impetuous creativity”, its nonconformist character and its firm commitment against injustices, highlighting its ability to unite rock with symbolist poetry and transmit a message of hope. Furthermore, they have highlighted its influence on generations of artists, consolidating it as a global cultural reference.

Smith thus takes over from the photographer Graciela Iturbide in an award that in recent years has also recognized figures such as Joan Manuel Serrat, Meryl Streep or Marina Abramović, reaffirming its weight within the international artistic panorama.