Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they[a] rose to prominence when they featured onDisclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on theUK Singles Chart. The following year, they featured onNaughty Boy's single "La La La", which became a number one single in the UK.
Smith was featured on theDisclosure song "Latch", which was released on 8 October 2012 and peaked at No. 11 on theUK Singles Chart. In February 2013, Smith released the first single from their debut album, "Lay Me Down", and later in the year featured onNaughty Boy's single "La La La". It was released on 19 May 2013 and peaked at No. 1 on theUK Singles Chart. Smith's first EPNirvana was released the following year. The first song on the EP, titled "Safe with Me", is produced by Two Inch Punch and was first broadcast onMistaJam'sBBC Radio 1Xtra show on 24 July 2013.[21] The second song on the EP is titled "Nirvana" and is produced by Craze & Hoax and Jonathan Creek. The EP also includes Smith's acoustic solo version of "Latch" and a live version of "I've Told You Now".[22] Smith released the Disclosure,Nile Rodgers, andJimmy Napes collaboration "Together" on 25 November 2013 as the only single fromSettle: The Remixes. In December 2013, Smith was nominated for the2014 Brit Critics' Choice Award and theBBC'sSound of 2014 poll,[23][24] winning both.[25][26]
The second single from Smith's debut album, titled "Money on My Mind", was released on 16 February 2014. It was announced on 16 December that Smith's debut studio album, titledIn the Lonely Hour, would be released on 26 May 2014 throughCapitol Records.[3] Smith described the album as "all about unrequited love" stemming from personal experience, having never been loved back by any previous love interests.[27] The album reached number one in theUK Albums Chart and number two on theBillboard 200, and by 5 November it had become the second biggest selling album of 2014 in the US behind only1989 byTaylor Swift.[28][29] In January 2015,In the Lonely Hour was named the second best selling album of 2014 in the UK, behindx byEd Sheeran.[30]
In 2015, it came to light that singerTom Petty, noting similarities between "Stay with Me" and his 1989 hit song "I Won't Back Down", had negotiated an out-of-court settlement with Smith in October 2014. Petty and co-composerJeff Lynne were awarded 12.5 percent of the royalties from "Stay with Me", and the names of Petty and Lynne joined James John Napier (known professionally asJimmy Napes) in theASCAP song credit.[40] At the57th Annual Grammy Awards, held on 8 February 2015, at theStaples Center in Los Angeles, Smith performed "Stay with Me" and also received four Grammy Awards:Best New Artist,Record of the Year andSong of the Year (for "Stay with Me") andBest Pop Vocal Album (forIn the Lonely Hour).[41] At the2015 Brit Awards held atThe O2 Arena in London on 25 February, they performed "Lay Me Down", and won the Brit Awards forBritish Breakthrough Act, and Global Success.[42] In March 2015, "Lay Me Down" was re-released as the sixth single from the album, peaking at number 8 on theBillboard Hot 100 (Smith's third US top 10 single).[43] The same month, Smith recorded another version of the song, featuringJohn Legend, for the British charity telethonComic Relief, which reached number one in the UK.[44] At the2015 Billboard Music Awards on 17 May, Smith received three Billboard Awards: Top Male Artist, Top New Artist, and Top Radio Songs Artist.[45] They featured onDisclosure's single "Omen", which was released on 27 July 2015.[46]
On 8 September 2015, Smith and Jimmy Napes confirmed that they had composed "Writing's on the Wall", the theme song toSpectre, the 24thJames Bond film.[47] The song was released on 25 September 2015 and became the first James Bond theme to reach number one in the UK.[48] On 19 October, Smith was presented with twoGuinness World Records—one for recording the firstJames Bond theme song to go to number one in the UK and another for scoring the most consecutive weeks in the UK top 10 by a debut album, forIn the Lonely Hour.[48]
At the73rd Golden Globe Awards on 10 January 2016, they received theAward for Best Original Song for "Writing's on the Wall".[49] On 14 January, the song earned Smith anAcademy Award nomination forBest Original Song.[50] In the nominations for the2016 Brit Awards announced on 14 January, the song was among the nominees for Best British Video.[51] Smith performed "Writing's on the Wall" at the Academy Awards on 28 February and, along with Napes, collected the prize for Best Original Song.[52] In their acceptance speech, Smith referenced an article byIan McKellen published before the awards ceremony that claimed no openly gay man had won an Oscar for Best Actor; Smith misquoted McKellen as saying that no gay man in general had won an Oscar. This was quickly discredited by openly gay recipientDustin Lance Black,[53] but McKellen mentioned that the error "doesn't detract" from Smith's achievement.[54]
On 8 September 2017, Smith released a new single titled "Too Good at Goodbyes", which debuted at number one in the United Kingdom and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.[55] Their second studio album,The Thrill of It All, debuted atop the UK Albums Chart and the USBillboard 200, becoming their first number one album in the US.[56][57] On 20 March 2018, Smith startedthe Thrill of It All Tour, which visited Europe, North America, Asia, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa until 2019. On 27 March 2018, they released "Pray" featuring American rapperLogic. On 17 August 2018, the singer collaborated as the main vocalist onCalvin Harris's new track "Promises".[58] The song became Smith's seventh number one hit on theUK Singles Chart and their first top song onBillboard'sDance/Mix Show Airplay chart.[59] They also released the song "Fire on Fire" as theWatership Down soundtrack.
On 13 February 2020, Smith revealed that a third studio album, then titledTo Die For, was scheduled to be released on 1 May.[61] On 30 March, Smith announced that, due to the ongoing effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic, they would be delaying the release of their third album and would include a number of changes to the album track list and the title, as they would continue to work on it. However, they did state that it would still be released sometime within 2020.[62]
"I'm Ready", a collaboration with American singerDemi Lovato was released on 16 April and charted well in the top 40 of several countries.[63] On 6 July, Smith released their cover ofColdplay's "Fix You". They had originally performed the song earlier in May for theiHeartRadio Living Room Series.[62] On 17 September, they released a new single, "Diamonds", and then announced the new title for their third album,Love Goes, which was released on 30 October.[64] On 29 September they announced that they would be performing a livestream concert on 30 October fromAbbey Road Studios in London, their only live performance of 2020.[65] The concert featured guest appearances by British actressJade Anouka on "My Oasis" and singerLabrinth on "Love Goes", and included a cover version of "Time After Time", which drew praise from the song's original singer and writerCyndi Lauper.[66] The concert was recorded and released as a live album,Love Goes: Live at Abbey Road Studios, on 19 March 2021.[67] The same year, Smith recorded a cover of "You Will Be Found", in collaboration withSummer Walker, for the soundtrack album of the2021 film adaptation ofDear Evan Hansen. Their version of the song also plays during the closing credits of the film itself.[68]
On 25 August 2022, Smith announced that they had collaborated with German singerKim Petras on a song titled "Unholy", with Petras calling it "the best song" she has been part of.[69] The first single from Smith's fourth studio albumGloria, it reached number one in the UK, the US (Smith's first US chart topper), Australia and other markets.[70][71] The song made Smith and Petras the first openly non-binary and first openly transgender musicians, respectively, to release a song that reached No. 1 on theBillboard Hot 100.[6] On 18 November, Smith released the single "Night Before Christmas", which was added to their EPThe Holly & the Ivy.[72]Gloria was released on 27 January 2023, garnering generally favourable reviews from critics.[73][74][75]
In February 2023, Smith and Petras won the Grammy Award forBest Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Unholy". This made Smith the first openly non-binary artist to win a Grammy, and Petras the first openly transgender artist to win a major-category Grammy.[6][76] In April of that year, Smith embarked on theGloria World Tour to promote the album. The concert tour visited Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania throughout the year. In July 2023, Smith and Scottish DJ Calvin Harris collaborated for a second time, and released a song titled "Desire" on 28 July 2023 withSony Music.[77][78] The song peaked at number 5 on theUS Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.[79]
Smith citedAdele andAmy Winehouse as primary influences.[89][90] They admire Adele's "honesty in her music" and the way she has handled fame; they expressed a wish to maintain a similar public image.[89] Winehouse's debut albumFrank was the first album Smith ever bought.[91] Early in their career, Smith received advice fromMary J. Blige andChaka Khan, both of whom they listened to during their youth; Smith said that this inspired them to offer help to new artists themself.[91] They calledTaylor Swift a "role model" and praised her "soulfulness" as well as her "honesty".[91]
Smith stated that the story ofLady Gaga's career beginnings encouraged them to move to London to start their own career.[16][92] They also credited her with helping them come out as non-binary.[93] Smith describedRobyn as a major influence onLove Goes and said that they listened to her "nonstop" while making the album because they "could dance and be sad at the same time and feel empowered".[94] They further citedBeyoncé andChristina Aguilera as sources of inspiration and empowerment.[92][94] Speaking toRolling Stone in January 2016, Smith namedWhitney Houston andMariah Carey as the greatestR&B voices.[95][96] Smith's other influences includeBritney Spears[97] andBrandy.[98]
In an October 2017 interview forAttitude magazine, Smith spoke of the impact of their close friendEd Sheeran's success: "It makes you push yourself. Watching him this past year has just been incredible, but yeah, of course it makes me hungry."[99] They had previously mentioned toGQ in January 2015 that they "envy the competition that people like[Frank] Sinatra would have ... because you could tell he was working off them".[91]
Vocal style
AVH1 profile of Smith's vocal coachJoanna Eden noted that Smith'svocal range "can soar frombaritone totenor for dramatic effect".[100] Smith places a lot of emphasis on their voice and stated they tried to make it the main element of their debut albumIn the Lonely Hour.[16] Following the release of the album, their vocals were often compared to those of Adele.[101][102] Jessica Robertson ofThe Fader considers that Smith represents "a return of the virtuosic vocalist in popular music", in the vein of Whitney Houston andLuther Vandross.[16] Jim Farber wrote forThe New York Daily News that Smith is "utterly unafraid to sound feminine";[103] Mary J. Blige thought that Smith was a black woman when she first heard them sing on Disclosure's "Latch".[92] Asked about the "diva quality" of their voice, Smith remarked in January 2014:
It's all I listened to. I actually didn't listen to male vocalists until about two years ago. I just listened to Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan. Massive voices.[104]
Personal life
In May 2014, Smithcame out to the public asgay and acknowledged they had been in a brief relationship with actor and model Jonathan Zeizel.[105][106] In 2015, at the57th Annual Grammy Awards when "Stay with Me" won an award forRecord of the Year, they said, "I want to thank the man this record is about, whom I fell in love with last year. Thank you so much for breaking my heart because you got me four Grammys!".[107] In October 2017, Smith stated that their albumThe Thrill of It All showed "the gay guy I've become".[108] In September 2017, Smith revealed a relationship with actorBrandon Flynn in an interview onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show. In June 2018, it was announced that Smith and Flynn had split after nine months of dating.[109]
In October 2017, Smith came out asgenderqueer,[110] saying, "I feel just as much a woman as I am a man"[108] and speaking of a period in their youth where they "didn't own a piece of male clothing and would wear full makeup while attending school".[111][112] In September 2019, they came out asnon-binary and changed their pronouns tothey/them, stating, "After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out...".[1][2]
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