Sam Smith

Sam Smith, born 19 May 1992, grew up in a rural village on the border of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, the nearest town being Bishops Stortford. The oldest of three siblings, they are said to be close to their younger sisters. Their mother is a successful City of London trader while their father is a stay-at-home dad who brought up the children.

Sam showed an early talent for singing, so their parents arranged singing lessons from the age of eight with jazz singer and songwriter, Joanna Eden. At the early age of seventeen they left school to pursue their dream of becoming a professional singer, living in a small one-bed flat in Earl’s Court and working in a London pub, but ended up isolated and beset by loneliness.

Sam knew they were gay, they said, for as long as they could remember. They suffered bullying at school and were shocked to find that even in London—close to gay communities—they were subjected to homophobic attacks. These negative experiences, combined with an inherently emotional nature, inform their songwriting and delivery. The soulful, beautifully rich tone of their voice and the subject of the lyrics speak to many people and have led to their success.

Collaborations with Disclosure on “Latch” and Naughty Boy on “La La La” launched Sam into the spotlight towards the end of 2012 and early 2013. They came out as gay shortly before releasing their debut album In the Lonely Hour on 26 May 2014, which they wrote because they were in love with a man who “didn’t love [them] back”.

In 2015, Sam won Grammys for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Song of the Year for “Stay With Me”.

Sam came out as non-binary in 2017, stating “I feel as much a woman as I am a man”, and in 2019 announced on Instagram that they were changing their pronouns to they/them. In subsequent interviews, Sam confessed that “gender, for me, has been nothing but traumatising”, but they weren’t prepared for the “ridicule” that was directed at them.

In terms of professional life Sam’s career has been nothing but successful. In September 2017 Sam’s single “Too Good at Goodbyes”, the lead single of their sophomore album, was released. It topped the charts in their home country and reached the top five in the U.S. It has accumulated over a billion views on the streaming service, YouTube. In early November, their album The Thrill Of It All managed to top the official charts of eleven countries.

On 20 March 2018, they began their The Thrill of It All World Tour in Sheffield, England. It visited Europe, North America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. The South Africa leg of the tour began in Cape Town, but was cut short by what at the time was said to be voice strain and Sam’s fear that they would damage their voice further if the tour continued. However, they subsequently admitted to panic and stress following the grief of their break-up with ex-boyfriend, Brandon Flynn.

On 27 March 2018, they released “Pray” featuring American rapper Logic. On 17 August 2018 they featured as the main vocalist on Calvin Harris’s new track “Promises”. The song became Sam’s seventh number one hit on the UK Singles Chart.

In January 2019 they released the R&B-tinged, somewhat autobiographical “Dancing with a Stranger”, a timely collaboration with Normani of Fifth Harmony’s, a girl group that Sam has been a huge fan of.

In July 2019 “How Do You Sleep” was released, accompanied by a music video that garnered a hundred million views in less than two months. Sam has said in an interview with Kiss Radio that the story behind the song is broadly autobiographical.

In 2019 Sam received the Person of the Year award from Attitude Magazine for their campaigning on behalf of the non-binary community.

On 1 November 2019 Sam released a cover, to positive reviews, of “I Feel Love”, originally released by Donna Summer in 1977.

Sam’s prolific output didn’t end in 2019. Their single “To Die For” was released in February 2020. Intended as the title track of their album, planned initially for release in May, this was deferred because of the pandemic. The title and content were deemed inappropriate and subsequently revised.

On 18 September 2020 the second single “Diamonds” from Sam’s third album, re-titled Love Goes, was released. The full album dropped on 30 October 2020. A significant proportion of the tracks have been attributed by Sam to their relationship and break-up with Brandon Flynn.

At the end of September 2022 Sam released “Unholy”, a single that marked a change of artistic direction, telling a story of sexual betrayal and in collaboration with Kim Petras. Utterly different to anything Sam has done before, it reached number 1 on a range of worldwide chart platforms in less than a week. Sam and Kim Petras were awarded a Grammy in the Best Pop Duo category at the 2023 Grammy awards.

On 27 January 2023 Sam released their fourth album, Gloria. This marked a significant change in musical direction, deriving from Sam’s belief that they were driven to develop and move away from the past. The emotional and artistic maturing process is explained by Sam in interview with Zane Lowe.