Bette Smith is an American soul, rock and blues singer who has released music on the

Ruf Records Ruf Records is a German independent record label, which was founded in 1994 by Luther Allison’s manager, Thomas Ruf, to promote Allison's career. The motto of the blues label is "Where Blues Crosses Over". The company's office is located in L ...

blues label and, as of 2024, is on the Kartel Music Group label. Of Trinidadian descent, she is a New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee and has worked work with

Jimbo Mathus James H. Mathis Jr. (born August 1967), known as Jimbo Mathus, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and member of the gypsy jazz, hot jazz band Squirrel Nut Zippers. Early life and career He was born in Oxford, Mississippi to Jimmy Math ...

, Kirk Fletcher,

Luther Dickinson Luther Andrews Dickinson (born January 18, 1973) is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the North Mississippi Allstars and the son of record producer Jim Dickinson. He is also known for being a guitarist for The Black Crowes. He hosts '' Guita ...

Patterson Hood Patterson David Hood (born March 24, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers. Early life Hood was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the son of Jan Patterson Adams and David Hood, the longtime bassist ...

, and

Jimmy Hogarth James Dearness Hogarth (born September 1974) is a London-based producer and songwriter, whose production and writing credits include, Anohni, Amy Winehouse, Sia, Tom Grennan, Paolo Nutini, Duffy, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ren Harvieu, Estelle, T ...

. She tours on the North American blues festival circuit and in Europe.

Early life

Sharon Meriel Kathleen Smith, known professionally as Bette Smith, grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Her parents are Trinidadian. Her father, a choir director in the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

that the family attended, taught her to sing. She sang featured roles in the church's gospel choir.

Career

2010s

She released an album called ''From The Well Of My Inner Child'' in 2006 using the stage name "Bette Stuy." She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2010, and studied at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

in New York City, where in 2014 she earned a B.S. in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Creative Arts Therapy, and at Columbia’s School of Social Work. To earn a living she worked as a receptionist and on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

. She was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame in 2012. Groovy

In 2013 her older brother Louis, dying of kidney failure, urged her to further pursue her dreams of becoming a professional full-time singer. Again using the name Bette Stuy, she released in 2015 the EP ''Introducing Bette Stuy: This is Neo Blues'', put together a band, and continued playing at New York City clubs and on the street. A musician who knew

of the

Squirrel Nut Zippers Squirrel Nut Zippers is an American swing and jazz band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by James "Jimbo" Mathus (vocals and guitar), Tom Maxwell (vocals and guitar), Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo, ukulele), Chris Phillips (d ...

heard her singing at a street fair and put her in touch with Mathus. Mathus decided he wanted to work with her. She went to

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

with him and, with a live band, they recorded her debut album as Bette Smith, ''Jetlagger''. On July 26, 2017, ''Billboard'' premiered the video for the track "Manchild." ''Jetlagger'' was released on 29 September 2017 on Big Legal Mess Records (a subsidiary of

Fat Possum In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple ester ...

). It included original songs as well as covers by the Staples Singers and

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

. In 2018,

WNYC Studios WNYC Studios is a producer and distributor of podcasts and on-demand and broadcast audio. WNYC Studios is a subsidiary of New York Public Radio and is headquartered in New York City. History In May 2015, WNYC began distributing its shows '' ...

Radiolab ''Radiolab'' is a radio program and podcast produced by WNYC, a public radio station based in New York City, and broadcast on more than 570 public radio stations in the United States. The show has earned many industry awards for its "imaginati ...

invited her to contribute an original song to its compilation project called ''27: The Most Perfect Album'', with each track inspired by one of the 27 U.S. Constitutional amendments. She chose the 13th Amendment and contributed her song "Happy Warrior." ''Jetlagger'' received reviews in major publications. ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadeni ...

'' premiered the video and ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' the audio for the track "I Found Love." Smith toured in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

promoting the album, appearing in 2018 at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and festivals in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. She toured Europe again in July 2019.

2020s

Together with Kirk Fletcher she released the single "Dance Monkey" on

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...

on 6 February 2020. Also that year the same label released her single with Jesse Johnson, "Memories." The second Bette Smith album, ''The Good, the Bad and the Bette'', came out on 25 September 2020 on blues label

. Produced by

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock music, rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley (American musician), Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as ...

’ Matt Patton and engineer Bronson Tew, ''The Good, the Bad and the Bette'' included three songs co-written by Smith and includes contributions from

from

North Mississippi Allstars North Mississippi Allstars is an American blues and southern rock band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is currently composed of brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar, lowebow, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, keyboards, elec ...

and

from

Jim DeRogatis James Peter DeRogatis (born September 2, 1964) is an American music critic and co-host of ''Sound Opinions''. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'', '' Spin'', ''Guitar World'', ''Matter'' and '' Modern Drummer'' ...

included it on his “Best Albums of 2020” list. The track "Fistful of Dollars" reached #1 on the Roots Music Report in April 2021. Her bookings in summer and fall 2021 included U.S. tours with the Drive-By Truckers and

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenneth Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as a blues rock artist. Early life Shepherd was born in Shrevepo ...

, an appearance at the

Telluride Blues & Brews Festival Telluride Blues & Brews Festival is a three-day music festival held in September in the Town of Telluride, Colorado. Blues & Brews is a three-day celebration of music and microbrews held in Telluride Town Park, an outdoor music venue with 13,000 f ...

, and her own "Bustin’ Out of Brooklyn Tour ‘21." In 2022 she performed at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

. Her studio collaborations in 2020 and 2021 included tracks with

Joe Louis Walker Louis Joseph Walker Jr. (December 25, 1949 – April 30, 2025), known as Joe Louis Walker, was an American musician, best known as an electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. His knowledge of blues history is revealed by his u ...

, Larry Brown, Fabrizio Grossi & Soul Garage Experience, and others. Bette Smith performing at Bilbao Blues Festival in 2023

On 25 February 2022 she and Kirk Fletcher released another single on Cleopatra Records, a cover of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' "

Brown Sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

." In August of that year, Cleopatra Records released Ben E. King's album ''Supernatural Soul'' which included the single "Stand By Me" performed by King, Smith and

Ronnie Earl Ronnie Earl (born Ronald Horvath, March 10, 1953, Queens, New York, United States) is an American blues guitarist and music instructor. Earl who grew up collecting various music records, pursued a degree in special education and education at Bo ...

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...

and

Rafael Riqueni Rafael Riqueni del Canto (Sevilla, August 16, 1962), is a Spanish guitar player and composer. He is considered as one of the biggest names or “Maestros” in flamenco guitar history. At age fourteen, he won the two main national awards for fl ...

were also guests on the album. Smith's summer 2022 festival bookings included Mempho Music Festival, Calgary Folk Music Festival, Blues From The Top Festival, and Kitchener Blues Festival. In 2023 she released two more singles with Cleopatra Records – "Tennessee Whiskey" with guitarist

Harvey Mandel Harvey "The Snake" Mandel (born March 11, 1945) is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career. Early life Mandel was born in Detroit ...

and "Sign Your Name" with guitarist Arthur Adams – and was invited to perform at several festivals, including the Holland International Blues Festival, Harvest Music Festival and, in early 2024, on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise with

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Keb' Mo' Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that tra ...

Shemekia Copeland Charon Shemekia Copeland (born April 10, 1979) is an American electric blues vocalist. She has released 12 albums, won nine Blues Music Awards, and won five Blues Blast Music Awards. In 2024, Copeland received nominations at the 67th Annual Gramm ...

and

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram Christone "Kingfish" Ingram (born January 19, 1999) is an American blues guitarist and singer from Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States, who became a well-known performer as a teenager. His debut album, '' Kingfish,'' was released in May 2019. ...

. In 2023 she also recorded her third album, ''Goodthing'', teaming with producer

. It was released on July 12, 2024 by Kartel Music Group. The title track was public radio station

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

's "Today's Top Tune" on May 8, the day it was released as a single, and Spotify added album tracks to two of its official playlists ("Beautiful Mess" on Retro Soul and "M.O.N.E.Y" on Nu-Blue). In the summer of 2024 WBGO's ''The Art of the Story'' podcast and WNYC's ''Soundcheck'' featured Smith and the album, and she appeared on the MTA's "Sessions At" pop-up series in the New York City subway system. In June 2024 she headlined the Columbia Pike Blues Festival and in October toured Europe, playing sold-out shows in London, Paris, and Milan. In April 2025, Smith released a single covering Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" through Cleopatra Records. A 2025 European tour will include festivals and events in Italy, France, and Spain.

Discography

Albums

Singles as artist

Singles/tracks as featured artist

Personal life

Bette Smith lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is a cousin of gospel singer

Wintley Phipps Wintley Augustus Phipps, Sr. (born January 7, 1955) is a Trinidadian-American singer, songwriter, record producer, minister, and founder of the U.S. Dream Academy, Songs of Freedom Publishing Company, and Coral Records Recording Company. He feat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bette Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American blues singers African-American rock singers American soul singers American women rock singers 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers Musicians from Brooklyn People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Singers from Brooklyn Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu The New School alumni