He married and raised two children with poet and fellow rock musician Patti Smith.

Frederick Dewey Smith was born on September 14, 1948[1][a] at his family's residence on Broad Branch in the Big Harts Creek area of Lincoln County, West Virginia.

In 2018, Smith was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame[3] alongside Hasil Adkins and Ann Magnuson.

[6] In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Smith #93 in its list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

While still married, he met and began an affair with singer and poet Patti Smith.