performed People Have the Power

In 2016, Smith performed “People Have the Power” at Riverside Church in Manhattan to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Democracy Now , where she was joined by Michael Stipe. On December 10, 2016, Smith attended the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm on behalf of Bob Dylan , winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature , who could not be present due to prior commitments. After the official presentation speech for the literary prize by Horace Engdahl , the perpetual secretary of the Swedish Academy , Smith sang the Dylan song ” A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall “. She incorrectly sang one verse, singing, “I saw the babe that was just bleedin’,” and was momentarily unable to continue. After a brief apology, saying that she was nervous, she resumed the song and earned jubilant applause at its end.