Fred Smith

• Name — Fred "Sonic" Smith • Birth Name — Frederick Dewey Smith • Born — 14 September 1948 • Birthplace — Lincoln County, West Virginia, U.S. • Died — 4 November 1994 • Place of death — Detroit, Michigan, U.S. • Instrument — * Guitar • bass • vocals • Genre — * Garage rock • hard rock • psychedelic rock • proto-punk • Occupation — * Musician • songwriter • Years Active — 1963–1988 • Associated Acts — * MC5 • Sonic's Rendezvous Band • Patti Smith • Website — sonicsrendezvousband.net

Frederick Dewey Smith was born on September 14, 1948 at his family's residence on Broad Branch in the Big Harts Creek area of Lincoln County, West Virginia.

Known professionally as Fred "Sonic" Smith, he was a guitarist with the MC5 and later went on to form Sonic's Rendezvous Band, which released one single, "City Slang", during Smith's lifetime. In 1988 he collaborated with wife Patti Smith on her album Dream of Life. In 2018, Smith was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame alongside Hasil Adkins and Ann Magnuson. In 2024, the MC5 were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hame of Fame, receiving the Musical Excellence Award.

Smith first married Sigrid Dobat; their only child died of SIDS. On March 9, 1976, Patti Smith's guitarist, Lenny Kaye, introduced Fred and Patti at Lafayette Coney Island in Detroit, as Smith has shared often and wrote about in her book, Bread of Angels.' The two subsequently married in 1980. The Smiths had two children together, a son, Jackson (born 1982), and a daughter, Jesse (born 1987). Jackson, a guitarist, later married Meg White, formerly of the indie band The White Stripes. Jesse is a pianist and composer. Both have performed on stage with their mother and the rest of the Patti Smith Band.

On November 4, 1994, Fred Smith died of heart failure in Detroit, at age 46.

• Guitars • Rickenbacker 450 with Gibson PAF pickups • Epiphone Crestwood • Mosrite Guitars • Gretsch Country Gentleman • Fender Duo-Sonic • Amplification • Marshall Amplifier • Fender Super Reverb