Patti Smith cancels Italy show after being rushed to hospital with “sudden illness”

Patti Smith was forced to cancel a show in Italy this week after reportedly being rushed to hospital with a “sudden illness”.

The singer-songwriter, 76, was due to perform at the Duse Theater in Bologna on Tuesday (December 12), but the show was cancelled at short notice.

Smith was taken to the Maggiore hospital in Bologna and put under observations after falling ill, according to Italian news source TG Com 24.

“With great regret, we inform the kind audience that Patti Smith’s concert will not be able to go on stage due to a sudden illness that struck the artist,” wrote the Duse Theater in a press release, which has been translated into English.

“We are all sorry for the inconvenience caused by this news. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery go to the artist.”

Smith was performing as part of an eight-show Italian tour, and is due to play at the Teatro Malibran in Venice on Thursday (December 14), but it’s not yet been confirmed if the show will go ahead. Her last performance was at the Duomo di Siena in Siena on Monday (December 11).

There was activity on the artist’s Instagram page today (December 13), sharing a post to her story in support of reproductive rights.

Back in the summer, Smith attended Greta Thunberg’s final ever school strike in Stockholm, sharing that she had “tears in my eyes when I met her. I’m a big fan”.

Earlier in the year the artist had warned fans about a fraudster who was posing as one of her reps and asking people to send pieces of their hair.

The musician released her A Book of Days book in 2022, which was directly inspired by her Instagram account and comprises 366 photographs that capture her life “on and off the road” over the course of one year.