Recent from talks
Cathy Smith
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Cathy Smith
Catherine Evelyn Smith (April 25, 1947 – August 16, 2020), also known as Silverbag, was a Canadian backup singer, groupie, drug dealer, and legal secretary. Smith served 15 months in the California Institution for Women for injecting actor John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine in 1982.
Smith had been paid for a front-page headline story in the Hollywood tabloid the National Enquirer, where she stated she was the person who injected Belushi with a fatal drug overdose. Smith co-wrote the book Chasing the Dragon (1984) which told her life story; its title alludes to Smith's heroin addiction. Smith appeared prominently in the Bob Woodward book Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (1984) and was played by Patti D'Arbanville in the 1989 film adaptation.
Smith was born in Hamilton, Ontario. Her association with celebrities went back at least 20 years prior to her confession in the National Enquirer. Her earliest acquaintance was with Levon Helm, who later joined the Band, in 1963. In his autobiography, Helm recalls that he first met Smith in Hamilton, Ontario. Helm and his friend Rick Danko were then members of the Hawks. At one point, the musicians were in Toronto facing a drug bust.
Smith has been connected to the Band's song, "The Weight" (1968). Smith says in Rock and Roll Toronto: From Alanis to Zeppelin (1997), that Richard Manuel offered to marry her, but she refused. Nevertheless, she continued to tour and party with Helm, Danko, and Manuel through the 1960s, and at one point became pregnant with a child known as "The Band baby," as its paternity was unclear.
Smith became an employee (and, later, mistress) of Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in the early to mid-1970s.
The Smith-Lightfoot affair was violent and illustrated in the lyrics of "Sundown" (1974), Lightfoot's No. 1 hit and most lucrative song. It reflects the dark feelings Lightfoot was experiencing at the time, with lyrics such as: "Sometimes I think it's a shame / When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain." Drinking too much and married to another woman, he on one occasion broke Smith's cheekbone in a fight. Lightfoot has stated of his three-year relationship with Smith, "I was sometimes crazy with jealousy".
Bluegrass musicians Bruce and Brian Good, the Good Brothers, who were one of Lightfoot's opening acts during that time, got fired by Lightfoot for "flirting" with Smith. Smith was cited in Lightfoot's divorce papers, and shortly after his affair with Smith ended, Lightfoot was a party to the most expensive divorce settlement in Canadian history to that date.
In a 1975 interview, Lightfoot expanded upon "Sundown" and hinted at the worry he experienced in his relationship with Smith:
Hub AI
Cathy Smith AI simulator
(@Cathy Smith_simulator)
Cathy Smith
Catherine Evelyn Smith (April 25, 1947 – August 16, 2020), also known as Silverbag, was a Canadian backup singer, groupie, drug dealer, and legal secretary. Smith served 15 months in the California Institution for Women for injecting actor John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine in 1982.
Smith had been paid for a front-page headline story in the Hollywood tabloid the National Enquirer, where she stated she was the person who injected Belushi with a fatal drug overdose. Smith co-wrote the book Chasing the Dragon (1984) which told her life story; its title alludes to Smith's heroin addiction. Smith appeared prominently in the Bob Woodward book Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (1984) and was played by Patti D'Arbanville in the 1989 film adaptation.
Smith was born in Hamilton, Ontario. Her association with celebrities went back at least 20 years prior to her confession in the National Enquirer. Her earliest acquaintance was with Levon Helm, who later joined the Band, in 1963. In his autobiography, Helm recalls that he first met Smith in Hamilton, Ontario. Helm and his friend Rick Danko were then members of the Hawks. At one point, the musicians were in Toronto facing a drug bust.
Smith has been connected to the Band's song, "The Weight" (1968). Smith says in Rock and Roll Toronto: From Alanis to Zeppelin (1997), that Richard Manuel offered to marry her, but she refused. Nevertheless, she continued to tour and party with Helm, Danko, and Manuel through the 1960s, and at one point became pregnant with a child known as "The Band baby," as its paternity was unclear.
Smith became an employee (and, later, mistress) of Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in the early to mid-1970s.
The Smith-Lightfoot affair was violent and illustrated in the lyrics of "Sundown" (1974), Lightfoot's No. 1 hit and most lucrative song. It reflects the dark feelings Lightfoot was experiencing at the time, with lyrics such as: "Sometimes I think it's a shame / When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain." Drinking too much and married to another woman, he on one occasion broke Smith's cheekbone in a fight. Lightfoot has stated of his three-year relationship with Smith, "I was sometimes crazy with jealousy".
Bluegrass musicians Bruce and Brian Good, the Good Brothers, who were one of Lightfoot's opening acts during that time, got fired by Lightfoot for "flirting" with Smith. Smith was cited in Lightfoot's divorce papers, and shortly after his affair with Smith ended, Lightfoot was a party to the most expensive divorce settlement in Canadian history to that date.
In a 1975 interview, Lightfoot expanded upon "Sundown" and hinted at the worry he experienced in his relationship with Smith: