Sam Smith was born Samuel Frederick Smith on May 19, 1992, in the countryside of Cambridgeshire, England. He is the third cousin of Lily Allen, the musician, and Alfie Allen, the actor. At the age of eight, after his parents heard him sing along to “My Love Is Your love” by Whitney Houston one morning on the drive to his Catholic elementary school, Smith was forced into intensive voice training with a well-known jazz artist. He spent his youth and teenage life in theatre rehearsals. He was regularly asked to appear at dinner parties with friends and colleagues by his mother, then a prosperous banker in London. The future of Smith was handled by six independent managers at the age of 12, with expectations of fame that never happened. “His mother was fired from her role for “gross incompetence” when he was 16, after reportedly spending too much business time on his budding pop career.
“Smith rose to fame when he was included on Disclosure’s 2012 smash single “Latch,” Smith. The song appeared in the U.K. Chart of Singles at number 11. Then, he released his second single “Lay Me Back” in early 2013. The track was also announced as the lead single from his debut album. Later that year, Smith combined with Bad Boy for La La La, which eventually put at No. 1 in the U.K.
Around that time, Smith came out publicly as a gay male. He said in an interview with The Fader, “Leave Your Lover” about a song from his debut LP called “It’s about a guy and that’s what I wanted people to know-I want to be clear that that’s what it’s about.”
I want to make it a normality because this is a non-issue. People wouldn’t ask a straight guy these questions. I’ve attempted to be subtle for this project and it’s really crucial for me that my music touches everybody. I’ve created my music so that it could be about something and everyone-whether it’s a guy, a woman or a goat-and everyone will relate to that, well, I want to make it a normality because, People will not be posing these questions to a straight guy. With this song, I’ve been trying to be smart, because it’s also important to me that my music reaches everybody. I created my music so that it could be about everything and everything-whether it’s a kid, a woman or a goat-and that’s something everybody can connect to,
“He announced that there was a guy he loved, but he didn’t come back to love him. The guy, Jonathan Zeizel, allegedly the model, was the one who influenced the song. “It was nice to get it off my chest to inform him as a sort of closure,” Smith clarified. “I feel better for it. I feel better for it. I almost feel like I’ve signed this part of my life where I keep offering myself up to guys who’re never going to want me again… it’s all there right now, and I should pass on and finally meet a man who can love me the way I love him.
The heartbreak supported Smith to reach great successes in his songs. He brought home four trophies at the 2015 Grammy Awards, after winning Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album, Single of the Year and Song of the Year Awards. “Smith stated that in the same year he had written “Writing’s on the Wall. The anthemic track acted as the subject song for “Spectre”, the 24th James Bond movie. Writing’s on the Wall”Writing’s on the Wall” It was announced as the best original album at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, Brit Awards and Academy Awards.
“After the success of “Writing’s on the Wall,” Smith went on hiatus. While he wasn’t dropping new music, he teased fans with images from his studio session in 2016. In the following year, Smith was reported to have collaborated with frequent partners Jimmy Napes and Naughty Kid on his sophomore record, which is planned to be released at the end of 2017. It has also been said that Smith would work with Adam Lambert on his most current material.