Patti Smith was in her early teens when she renounced the church. Raised as a Jehovah’s Witness , she would sit in turmoil in Bible study classes as the elders said there was no place for art in Christ’s kingdom. After having her mind blown by Picasso on a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with her father, Smith came to a decision: she stopped going to Bible study, cast off her religion and “gave my evolving self to art”.

Smith – who is now 78 – would be reminded of that moment years later when she took a lengthy break from music. After the release of Horses , her landmark 1975 album which she memorably described as “three chords merged with the power of the word”, she was hailed as a trailblazer, the godmother of punk. But fame didn’t sit well with Smith who, previously a po

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