How much is Pat Smear worth?
| Net Worth: | $30 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Musician |
| Date of Birth: | August 5, 1959 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.84 m |
About Pat Smear
After purchasing a Hagstrom guitar around the end of his time in the Germs, Smear utilized them almost exclusively for a significant portion of his career. He went on to work with the manufacturer to design a signature model of guitar in collaboration with them. Smear now relies solely on Gibson guitars in their sound.
He is often spotted playing vintage models like a Les Paul or a White SG Custom, but his collection is primarily comprised of custom shop variations on the extremely rare Johnny A model. When performing with the Foo Fighters, Smear also employs the use of a Gibson Barney Kessel type guitar.
13 years old was the age he ran away from home and joined a commune. After that, he enrolled in the Innovative Program School, also known as IPS, which is an alternative school housed within University High School in Los Angeles. It was there that he first made the acquaintance of vocalist Darby Crash, with whom he would later perform in the band Germs in the late 1970s. Smear and Crash were both kicked out of IPS due to the administration’s suspicions that they were encouraging disruptive behavior among their fellow students.
Smear and Darby Crash formed the band the Germs in 1976 when they were both still in their teens. They recruited Lorna Doom on bass and Dottie Danger on drums. At the time, Smear was the only other member of the band who has any musical knowledge or ability.
Soon after, Don Bolles took over for Carlisle in the band, and in 1979, the band issued their debut album, titled GI, which was produced by Joan Jett. The album is now widely acknowledged as a significant turning point in the annals of punk music history. After the dissolution of the Germs, Smear joined forces in 1981 with the former keyboardist for the Screamers, Paul Roessler, as well as Paul’s sister, Kira Roessler, to form the band Twisted Roots.
Although they did not last long, the band was revered throughout the punk scene in Hollywood. After that, Smear would go on to play with Nina Hagen and record two albums under his own name as a solo artist.
Don Bolles and Smear were both members of the death rock band 45 Grave for a short time, who was the former drummer for the Germs. During this period, they recorded a seven-inch single titled Black Cross as well as additional tunes that would subsequently be included on 45 Grave’s compilation album titled Autopsy, which was released in 1987.
After Kurt Cobain passed away, the drummer for Nirvana, Dave Grohl, decided to start a new band to support his new self-titled album. This new band would eventually become known as Foo Fighters. Smear was a founding member of the band, which got its start in late October 1994. However, due to the fact that the Foo Fighters’ debut album was a compilation of demos recorded solely by Grohl, Smear did not make his debut on a Foo Fighters album until 1996’s The Colour and the Shape (1997).
In the latter half of 2005, Smear resumed their collaboration with Foo Fighters by playing select performances together. Before he completely rejoined the group in 2010 and participated in the recording of what would become the album Wasting Light, he continued to play sporadically with the band, often not for the length of a concert. After that, he participated in the recording sessions for the band’s eighth studio album, which was titled Sonic Highways.
The last surviving members of Nirvana performed together for the first time on December 22, 2010, at Paladino’s in Tarzana, California, during a gig by Foo Fighters that was being videotaped for a documentary. According to the documentary titled Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, which was released in 2011, Smear was married at the time, and he has fathered at least one child.
On July 19, 2013, Smear, Novoselic, and Grohl reunited on stage with Paul McCartney during both the first and second encores of McCartney’s “Out There” tour stop at Safeco Field in Seattle. The concert was part of McCartney’s “Out There” tour. They played a number of songs by the Beatles, including “Cut Me Some Slack” among others.
As a member of the Foo Fighters, Smear was honored with induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the year 2021. In the same year that he was recognized, his old band mate from The Germs, Dottie Danger (Belinda Carlisle), was inducted as a member of The Go- Go’s.
Summing-Up
In addition to his work as a rhythm guitarist for grunge band Nirvana, which he joined in 1993 as a touring guitarist, and Foo Fighters, with whom he has recorded six studio albums, he is best known for his work as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the Los Angeles-based punk band The Germs. He is also a member of the band Foo Fighters.
