Born Georg Ruthenberg on August 5th, 1959, he was raised in Western Los Angeles, California. He has a German immigrant father and an African-American mother. His first band The Germs were formed after Pat met Darby Crash in the late 70's, and they would soon become "L.A.'s punk gods". Their first record GI (produced by Joan Jett) was released in 1979 and is defined by many as somewhat of a masterpiece in punk music. "The Germs kicked up a hellacious racket that strayed from fast/loud punk into art damage and garage grunge. On-stage, their gigs bordered on performance art, with Crash in full Iggy frenzy, diving into the crowd, adorning himself with whatever foodstuffs the audience provided, wearing less-and-less clothing, all done while the band cranked out noisy spasms of simple, but effective, rock noise." (quote: All Music Guide). The Germs came to an end following the tragic death of Darby Crash in 1980. He was just 22.

Over the following years, Pat would play with a number of respected artists, such as Nina Hagen, and he made two solo albums of his own; So You Fell In Love With A Musician and Ruthensmear (both out on SST records). He also did some acting, appearing in TV shows such as CHiPs and movies including Blade Runner and Breakin'

He joined Nirvana in 1993 to help Kurt Cobain concentrate more on his vocals at live shows, and take away some of the pressure of his guitar playing. Pat would play more than 50 shows with Nirvana including the legendary "Unplugged" performance, and the very last show in Munich on March 1, 1994. 

He toured with Nirvana for about 6 months to promote the In Utero album, starting with Saturday Night Live in September 1993 up until the last show on March 1st, 1994. Later on he joined The Foo Fighters and toured with them for a few years, as well as recording the album The Colour And The Shape. He left the band following a pre-show performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in Sept. '97. After Nirvana ended he joined Dave Grohl to play guitar for The Foo Fighters from 1995 to 1997. 

Pat Smear returned to the TV screen, appearing in the video for No Doubt's breakthrough single "Don't Speak". In the 80's he had appeared in the Prince classic "Raspberry Beret". In addition, he had a regular segment on the MTV show House of Style hosted by Cindy Crawford in the mid 90's.

One of the latest projects he's been involved with was producing the debut album by the band Harlow (of VH-1's Bands on the Run show).Pat started his career in The Germs, the legendary L.A. punk band founded by him and Darby Crash in '77. After The Germs ended, Pat worked with a number of bands and artists such as Nina Hagen.


Credit: nirvanaclub.com