Pat Smear, born Georg Ruthenberg on August 5, 1959, is a rock guitarist. He was born and raised in Western Los Angeles, California. He has an African-American mother and a German immigrant father. In 1976 Pat met Darby Crash and together they eventually formed the Germs with bassist Lorna Doom and drummer Dottie Danger , the pseudonym of Belinda Carlisle who went on to front The Go-Gos. She was then replaced by Don Bolles and, in 1979, they released their first album, GI, produced by Joan Jett, which is now defined as a milestone or masterpiece in punk rock. The Germs disbanded in 1980 due to the tragic death of Darby. Later Pat would go on to play with Nina Hagen, and make two solo albums of his own; So You Fell In Love With A Musician and Ruthensmear. He also appeared in TV shows such as CHiPs and movies including Blade Runner and Breakin' . While working on the film Breakin' Pat becames friends with Courtney Love and the two formed a relationship. In 1993 Pat received a call from Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain asking him to join Nirvana. Pat accepted immediately and played his first show together on Saturday Night Live on September 25, 1993. He toured with Nirvana for about six months before leader singer Kurt Cobain died. Following the end of Nirvana, drummer Dave Grohl formed the Foo Fighters and asked Pat to join the band. Pat accepted and played alongside them until September 1997. Since then he has been in various TV spots and produced the debut album of Harlow.

Smear renamed himself after learning about pap smears in high school, claiming they were the most disgusting thing he had ever heard of.

Smear primarily played Hagström guitars during his stint in Nirvana.