Pat Smear was born as Georg Albert Ruthenberg on the 5th August 1959, in Los Angeles, California USA, of Native-American, African-American (mother) and German (immigrant – father) ancestry. He is a musician, who is best known for being a guitarist of several bands – Foo Fighters, The Germs, and Nirvana. He has been an active member of the entertainment industry since 1977.
Have you ever wondered how rich is Pat Smear? Sources estimate that Pat’s net worth is $3 million as of early 2016, with the main source of his wealth being, of course, his professional career in music. Another source of his fortune is coming from his other activities in the entertainment industry.
Pat Smear Net Worth $3 Million
Pat Smear was raised in West Los Angeles, by parents who had a huge influence, taking him to piano lessons at a very young age, then teaching himself to play the guitar at which he became very successful. Thus, Pat’s professional career began in 1977, when he and Darby Crash formed the punk band The Gems, alongside Belinda Carlisle and Lorna Doom. However, his tenure with the band was short-lived, as he left in 1979, after the release of the band’s debut album entitled “GI” (1979). However, his net wroth started rising.
After The Gems, Pat sought another engagement, and soon became a guitarist for the band Twisted Roots with Paul and Kira Roessler, brother and sister. However, this band soon disbanded too, but before Pat focused on a solo career, he joined forces with Nina Hagan for a short time. His first solo album came out in 1987, entitled “Ruthensmear”, and increased his net worth by a large margin; five years later, he released his second album “So You Fell In Love With A Musician” (1992). In 1993 he was called by Kurt Cobain to join his band Nirvana for a tour; however, Pat’s tenure with Nirvana was cut short by the death of Kurt Cobain on the 9th April 1994. Afterwards, Pat joined Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters on their album “The Color And The Shape” (1997), but later quit this band too, while still on a tour in support of the album.
After he left Foo Fighters, Pat kept away from music, working as a creative consultant on the motion picture about the Germs and Darby Crash, entitled “What We Do Is Secret”. He is also recognized for appearance on the MTV fashion show entitled “House of Style” alongside Cindy Crawford. These appearances also added to his overall net worth.
In 2005, he and Shane West, actor, started a tour as The Gems, Pat announcing the reunion of the band. Ever since then, Pat, Lorna Doom, and with the addition of Don Bolles are on constant tour, however, no new material has been released so far. In 2005, Smear also rejoined Foo Fighters, and has been a member of the band ever since, recording five albums including “Skin And Bones” (2006), “Wasting Lights” (2011), “Sonic Highways” (2014), and their latest release “St. Cecilia” (2015). All these also certainly added to Pat’s net worth.
When it comes to Par Smear’s personal life, in the media there is information that he is married, and has children, but any other information about them is private.
