Watch Bruce Springsteen unleash his inner guitar hero, and jam with Flea, Johnny Depp and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, in powerful tribute to Patti Smith at New York's iconic Carnegie Hall

(Image credit: Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stipe, Johnny Depp, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O were among the stars who gathered in New York's iconic Carnegie Hall last night, March 26, to pay tribute to the music and poetry of Patti Smith.

People Have The Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith was staged on Wednesday, with 100% of net proceeds being donated to support youth music and writing education programs.

Other artists performing on the night included Kim Gordon, Sharon Von Etten, Ben Harper, Courtney Barnett, The Kills' Alison Mosshart and The National's Matt Berninger, with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea playing in the house band, alongside The Rolling Stones' drummer Steve Jordan, and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Famously, Patti Smith scored her first Billboard chart hit single with Because The Night, a song originally written by Springsteen during his studio sessions for his Darkness on the Edge of Town album, and passed along to the punk poetess by Jimmy Iovine, who was working on both Darkness... and Smith's Easter album. So it was little surprise that Springsteen chose to perform the song at the tribute show.

"Patti gave me this big hit, right here, that I'm about to sing," Springsteen said, introducing the song. "If I had sung this song, it would not have been a hit. It needed her voice, and her incredible lyrics. So Patti, I have to thank you dearly for our one big hit together."

Watch the performance, which is particularly notable for the extended guitar work-out that Springsteen, in full guitar hero mode, tags to the end of the song, below:

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To close the show, Springsteen, Michael Stipe, Johnny Depp and almost everyone involved in the show, took the stage with Smith to perform a raucous People Have The Power.

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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.