Patricia Smyth is a singer-songwriter from the United States. In addition, she sings lead vocals for the American rock group “Scandal.” As the lead vocalist of “Scandal,” which produced big singles like “The Warrior” and “Goodbye to You,” she made her breakthrough in the music industry. After splitting up in the middle of the 1980s, “Scandal” got back together in 2004 when Smyth returned as the lead vocalist. In the meantime, she started a solo career and put out her first album, “Never Enough,” which produced two “Top 40” successes. A huge hit, “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough,” her duet with Don Henley, was included on her second solo album, “Patty Smyth.” The chart-topping single received a Grammy nomination and peaked at #2 on the “Billboard Hot 100” list. She was nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy for the theme song from the hugely popular American comedy picture “Junior,” “Look What Love Has Done.” John McEnroe, a retired American tennis player, is her current spouse.
Early Life & Childhood
On June 26, 1957, Patricia Smyth was born in New York City, United States, to Betty and George Smyth. Her mother owned a nightclub, while her father worked in construction. In addition, Betty was a trapeze artist and Link Wray’s manager, a well-known rock musician. Later, Smyth’s parents parted ways. She was raised in the Gerritsen Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn. Elizabeth is the older sister of the man.
Smyth got into trouble with the authorities when she was twelve and was arrested a few times. The two charges that led to these arrests were intimidating an officer and waiting on a street corner to buy drugs.
She performed at her very first concert, a song by British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Cat Stevens, at the Folk City in New York City, when she was fifteen years old. She performed musical acts at the comedy club “Catch A Rising Star” as well. She worked as a waitress in a steakhouse to support herself while she struggled with her musical endeavors. She also formed “Patty and the Planets,” her first legitimate band.
Career of Patty Smyth
Sometime in the early 1980s, Smyth was working as a waitress at a steakhouse when she got a call from guitarist Zack Smith. This led to Smyth joining the band “Scandal” in 1981. Zack established the American rock band in New York City the same year.
Smyth first became well-known and attracted national attention as the main vocalist of “Scandal,” which enjoyed early popularity and widespread recognition. The band’s 1982 self-titled debut EP became the best-selling EP ever issued by Columbia Records. “Goodbye to You,” one of its songs, reached its highest position on Billboard’s Album Rock play chart at #5.
Following the popularity of the “Scandal” EP, the band’s debut and only full-length album, “Warrior,” was as successful. The album, which was released by Columbia Records on August 21, 1984, peaked at #17 on the US Billboard Hot 200 album charts. Meanwhile, the lead single, “The Warrior,” won a BMI Airplay Award and reached the top of the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Canadian RPM Top Singles charts, as well as the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Smyth’s notoriety grew along with the band’s success, which by this point had produced chart-topping hits like “Love’s Got a Line on You” (1983) and “Hands Tied” (1984). However, internal conflicts within the group led to “Scandal”‘s dissolution in 1985.
Since she was eight months pregnant, she accepted an opportunity to take David Lee Roth’s place as the main vocalist for the American hard rock group Van Halen.
She performed as an accompanying vocalist on the song “Where Do the Children Go” from the album “Nervous Night” by “The Hooters.”
In 1987, Columbia Records released her debut solo album, “Never Enough.” The album debuted at number 66 in the US and was well praised. The album’s lead single, “Downtown Train,” by Tom Waits, peaked at #4 on the “U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks,” while the mainstream version of the song reached #40.
Her second studio album, “Patty Smyth,” was released on August 18, 1992. Thanks to the success of its first song, “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough,” the album went gold. The song received a Gold certification from the RIAA and peaked at number two on the “Billboard Hot 100.” It was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Pop Vocal, Duo or “Group.” The album also included the hits “No Mistakes” and “I Should Be Laughing.”
She also sang backing vocals for numerous tracks on the albums “Building the Perfect Beast” and “The End of the Innocence.”
The theme song for the 1994 American comedy picture “Junior” featured Smyth’s co-written song “Look What Love Has Done.” The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in addition to a Grammy.
She co-wrote and appeared in the song “Wish I Were You,” which is featured on the 1998 original soundtrack of the hugely popular American science fiction disaster movie “Armageddon.”
Smyth was a part of the 2004 reunion of “Scandal” for VH1’s Bands Reunited program. In 2005, they performed a variety of shows in the East Coast of the United States. The group got back together one more for the VH1 tour “We Are the ’80s” in the summer of 2006. In that same year, Columbia/Legacy produced a new “Scandal” collection CD.
In July 2008, Billboard revealed that Patty Smyth and Scandal were working on new music, which will include founding members Benjy King and Keith Mack. After more than 20 years, Patty Smyth and Scandal released their first song, “Hard for You to Love Me,” which is also known as “Make It Hard as a band,” in Ridgefield, Connecticut on January 17, 2009.
The song “Broken” was featured on her Christmas album “Come On December,” which was published on November 20, 2015. Ahead of the album’s release, Smyth used crowdsourcing to assist the Headstrong Project, and proceeds from album preorders were donated to the organization.
Individual Life of Patty Smyth
From 1985 until 1987, she was wed to American writer, bassist, and singer-songwriter Richard Hell. With him, she had a daughter named Ruby who was born in 1985.
She first got to know John McEnroe in 1993, and their first daughter, Anna, was born on December 27, 1995. She wed McEnroe on May 23, 1997, and on March 28, 1999, their second daughter, Ava, was born.
Net worth of Patty Smyth
The estimated net worth of Patty Smyth is about $1 million.