Patti Smith battled ill health to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall on Thursday (21Feb13) alongside her daughter for the annual Tibet House U.S. benefit.

The Because the Night icon took to the stage at the renowned Big Apple venue for the event, which calls for an end to Chinese oppression in the country.

Smith had arrived on a plane from Toronto, Canada hours before her performance and had picked up a nasty bout of influenza, but persevered with the show despite feeling unwell.

Her daughter, Jesse, who also performed on the night, tells New York Gossip Column Page Six, "(She) got home from Toronto and got under the covers... and was just sneezing and coughing. We (thought), 'She's not going to be able to do this.' We were planning that she wouldn't come at all... then she showed up and went on and did such a good job, and nobody knew."

The event's composer Philip Glass adds, "I was backstage with her, and she was out of it. I said, 'We don't have to rehearse it; we know the piece.' She's a real performer... at that moment she was able to do everything."