Singer, songwriter, and poet Patti Smith covered Lana Del Rey's 2012 hit 'Summertime Sadness' last night in her first of two sold-out Vicar Street shows.

The musician also performed the cover earlier this week at her show in Brighton, where she explained to the crowd that she wanted to dedicate the performance to her late husband, Fred 'Sonic' Smith of the MC5's.

She added that the song reminded her of the "wild youth" she and Fred shared in the '70s and '80s, depicted in her 2015 memoir M Train which followed her 2010 memoir Just Kids. 

Concertgoers took to social media to express their emotions about Smith's performance, claiming that the musician shed a few tears throughout the song.

Smith is no stranger to covers with her rendition of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' marking itself as one of her most popular tracks on digital streaming services.  Her cover of Van Morrison's Gloria in her track 'Gloria: In Excelsis' also proves  to be a popular tune amongst listeners, with nearly 25 million streams on Spotify.

The musician will play a second night at Vicar Street tonight before playing a handful of shows across Europe in the coming summer months.

Stayed tuned to hotpress.com for our full live report of Patti Smith's Vicar Street gig.

Check out Smith's cover of Del Rey's Summertime Sadness below:

Patti Smith sang a very emotional cover of 'Summertime Sadness' by Lana Del Rey at @Vicar_Street tonight. She said the song makes her reflect on moments she had with her late husband, Fred Smith. pic.twitter.com/niN0Wyqg0N

— Aaron Vallely (@Vallmeister) June 27, 2024