Sam Smith

Sam Smith Bio

Samuel Frederick Smith, known professionally as Sam Smith, is an English singer and songwriter whose soulful vocals and emotionally direct pop songs have made them one of the most successful British recording artists of the 2010s. Born in London in 1992, Smith first drew global attention by singing on Disclosure’s 2012 single “Latch” and on Naughty Boy’s 2013 UK number-one “La La La”, before establishing a solo career with the chart-topping debut album In the Lonely Hour (2014). Across four studio albums and a string of international hit singles, Smith has collected five Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. In 2017, Smith publicly came out as non-binary and in 2019 began using they/them pronouns, becoming a widely recognized voice for LGBTQ visibility in mainstream music.

Early Life and Background

Samuel Frederick Smith was born in London on 19 May 1992 to Frederick Smith and his wife, broker Kate Cassidy. The family later moved to the village of Great Chishill in Cambridgeshire, where Smith attended Thomas More Primary School. They have spoken publicly about being bullied as a child and undergoing liposuction at the age of twelve, experiences that shaped their later openness about body image.

Smith discovered music and performance at a young age, beginning in local jazz bands before joining Youth Music Theatre UK, where they appeared in the troupe’s 2007 production of Oh! Carol, a musical featuring the songs of Neil Sedaka. While still a teenager, they studied singing and songwriting under jazz pianist Joanna Eden, an influence Smith has repeatedly credited with developing their distinctive vocal style. They completed their secondary education at St Mary’s Catholic School in Bishop’s Stortford, where they were active in the Bishop’s Stortford Junior Operatics (now Bishop’s Stortford Musical Theatre Society) and the Cantate Youth Choir, and regularly attended the Anglican St Mary the Virgin church in Saffron Walden with their family.

Path to Music

Smith’s first recorded releases came while they were still a teenager, with the singles “Bad Day All Week” in 2008 and “When It’s Alright” in 2009, both of which were circulated independently. The real turning point, however, came in 2012, when they were invited to provide vocals for Disclosure’s electronic single “Latch”, a track that peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart and became a club and radio staple across Europe and North America.

The following year, Smith featured on producer Naughty Boy’s “La La La”, which debuted at number one in the UK, and released their debut solo EP, Nirvana, showcasing a more acoustic side of their songwriting. By late 2013, they had won both the BBC’s Sound of 2014 poll and the 2014 Brit Critics’ Choice Award, signalling the British music industry’s expectation of a major solo career. Their American television debut came in January 2014 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing “Latch” alongside Disclosure.

Sam Smith Career

Early Career (2008–2013)

Smith’s earliest years in music were shaped by grassroots work: youth theatre productions, local choir performances, jazz band gigs and independent singles that reached only modest audiences. The collaboration with Disclosure on “Latch” in 2012 transformed their visibility almost overnight, and the success of Naughty Boy’s “La La La” in 2013 confirmed that Smith had a distinctive commercial appeal. Their first solo EP, Nirvana, arrived in 2013 and included acoustic interpretations of “Latch” alongside new material co-written with Two Inch Punch, Craze & Hoax and songwriter Jimmy Napes, the latter of whom would become one of Smith’s most important creative partners.

Recognition followed quickly. Smith was nominated for the 2014 Brit Critics’ Choice Award and the BBC’s Sound of 2014 list, winning both, and they also featured on Disclosure, Nile Rodgers and Jimmy Napes’s collaborative single “Together” in November 2013. These early milestones laid the groundwork for the launch of their debut studio album and marked their transition from a guest vocalist to a fully fledged solo artist.

Breakthrough (2014–2016)

Smith’s debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, was released on 26 May 2014 through Capitol Records and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The album produced a string of international hits, including “Money on My Mind” (a UK number one), “Stay with Me”, which reached number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the top-ten singles “I’m Not the Only One” and “Like I Can”. In the Lonely Hour went on to become one of the defining albums of the decade: by late 2014 it was the second best-selling album of the year in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and in December 2019 the Official Charts Company named it the best-selling debut album of the 2010s in the UK and the sixth best-selling album of the decade overall.

The album’s success was matched by an extraordinary run of awards. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015, Smith performed “Stay with Me” and won four Grammys: Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. At the 2015 Brit Awards, they picked up British Breakthrough Act and Global Success, and at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards they received Top Male Artist, Top New Artist and Top Radio Songs Artist. In September 2015, Smith and Jimmy Napes released “Writing’s on the Wall”, the theme to the James Bond film Spectre, which became the first Bond theme to reach number one in the UK. The song won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in January 2016 and the Academy Award for Best Original Song in February 2016, cementing Smith’s status as a global pop powerhouse.

Notable Works and Milestones

Smith’s signature work remains In the Lonely Hour, which propelled them from rising vocalist to multi-Grammy winner within a single year, while the James Bond theme “Writing’s on the Wall” stands as a career-defining dramatic moment, earning both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. Together, these achievements established Smith as one of the most awarded British artists of their generation.

Sam Smith Award Nominations

Sam Smith has accumulated a substantial catalogue of award nominations across the music, film and television industries, reflecting both commercial success and critical recognition. Their early nominations included the 2014 Brit Critics’ Choice Award, the BBC’s Sound of 2014 list and a place among the nominees at the 2016 Brit Awards for Best British Video, recognising “Writing’s on the Wall”. Smith’s singles have also been repeatedly nominated at the Brit Awards, including a Song of the Year nomination for “Dancing with a Stranger” at the 2020 ceremony. In the United States, they have received multiple nominations at the Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards across pop, R&B and dance categories, including nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for In the Lonely Hour, and additional recognition for later singles such as “Unholy”.

Sam Smith Awards Won

Sam Smith has won five Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award, in addition to early industry honours such as the BBC’s Sound of 2014. Their Grammy sweep came at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015, where they won Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and they later added a fifth Grammy in 2023 for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Kim Petras for “Unholy”. The Brit Awards they have won include British Breakthrough Act and Global Success in 2015, while their Golden Globe and Academy Award both honoured “Writing’s on the Wall” from the James Bond film Spectre. In 2019, they were also presented with two Guinness World Records, recognising “Writing’s on the Wall” as the first James Bond theme to reach number one in the UK and In the Lonely Hour for the most consecutive weeks in the UK top ten by a debut album.

Sam Smith Family

Sam Smith was born to Frederick Smith and Kate Cassidy, with their mother working as a broker. The family has its roots in London, and Smith spent much of their childhood in the Cambridgeshire village of Great Chishill before attending school in Bishop’s Stortford. Smith is the godparent of close friend and longtime collaborator Jimmy Napes’s son, a relationship that reflects the deep personal ties they maintain with the songwriting community that has shaped their career.

Personal Life

In May 2014, Smith publicly came out as gay, acknowledging a brief earlier relationship with actor and model Jonathan Zeizel. They later dated actor Brandon Flynn, with the relationship confirmed in 2017 and ending in 2018. In October 2017, Smith came out as non-binary, saying “I feel just as much a woman as I am a man”, and in September 2019 they changed their pronouns to they/them, describing the decision as embracing themselves “inside and out”. Smith has also been open about long-running struggles with body image and identifies as a feminist. In May 2024, Smith confirmed their long-term relationship with fashion designer Christian Cowan in an interview with the New York Times.