PATTI SMITH - SMITH HAS NO REGRETS ABOUT CAREER HIATUS

SMITH HAS NO REGRETS ABOUT CAREER HIATUS

Punk icon PATTI SMITH has no regrets about turning her back on fame to concentrate on becoming a mum and a devoted wife to the late FRED SMITH.
The Because The Night rocker walked away from the limelight in 1979 because she didn't want to be an absent mother - and she's still convinced it was one of the best decisions she has ever made.
She tells WENN, "I left rock 'n' roll in 1979, really at the peak of my time and it was a difficult decision, but one that I've never regretted. I think that we all have to evolve as human beings and I had done what I had set out to do in rock 'n' roll in 1979, and that was to create space for new people.
"I thought that it was time for me to learn new things, to evolve as a human being, and to commit myself to the person that I loved, and to my children. I wanted my children to know who I was, that I was their mother, that I wasn't someone who was absent all of the time that they saw in newspapers or magazines.
"It wasn't easy. Being a mother requires a lot of sacrifice, you know, cooking and cleaning and nursing and washing diapers and scrubbing floors and teaching children to pray and hopefully be good citizens. It's a full-time job, and I was devoted to it.
"I had time set aside for myself, you know, early in the mornings or some time each day to study, work on poetry, sometimes write songs with my husband so it was a time of pursuit of knowledge which I like. I was never bored. I was never without the creative impulse, and it was a good life."