Sam Smith

A modern-day pop crooner, Sam Smith's soul ballads and larger-than-life vocal performances made the singer one of the UK's breakthrough stars of 2013. Born on May 19, 1992, and raised in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, Sam Smith studied jazz and musical theater as a child before moving to London at 18 years old. There, they initially found success as a guest performer on other artists' songs, lending their voice to Disclosure's dance hit "Latch" in 2012 and appearing on Naughty Boy's chart-topping single "La La La" one year later. In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith's debut album as a solo artist, was released in 2014, with "Money on My Mind" earning the vocalist another Number 1 hit in the UK. Even so, it was the album's third single, "Stay with Me," that turned them into one of the globe's leading pop icons, cracking the Top 10 in more than a dozen countries and earning multiple Grammy Awards in early 2015. Later that year, they co-wrote and performed "Writing's on the Wall," the theme song to the James Bond film Spectre. The first Bond theme to ever top the UK charts, "Writing's on the Wall" was successful in America, too, where it earned a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song. Also successful on both sides of the Atlantic was Sam Smith's second solo album, The Thrill of It All, which topped the album charts in the UK and the USA upon its release in 2017. One year later, they began unveiling material from a new album, beginning with his chart-topping collaboration with Calvis Harris, "Promises." Following a string of subsequent single releases, the album Love Goes arrived in October 2020, combining themes of heartbreak and bruised vulnerability with the poppiest songs of Sam Smith's career. After releasing the live album Love Goes: Live at Abbey Road Studios in 2021, he returned to the charts in 2022 with "Love Me More" and the Number 1 hit single "Unholy" with Kim Petras. Both tracks were included in his fourth studio effort, Gloria (2023), which also featured guest appearances by Koffee, Jessie Reyez, and Ed Sheeran. On August 2, 2024, Sam Smith returned at the Royal Albert Hall to sing the songs of his first album with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Simon Hale. The concert resulted in the album BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, issued for the Record Store Day in April 2025. Later in 2025, he returned to new material with "To Be Free," an intimate acoustic recording made with longtime collaborator Simon Aldred and The TwoCity Chorus. The song gave its name to a residency at Brooklyn's Warsaw, initially announced for 12 nights before being doubled to 24 sold-out shows running from October to December. Sam Smith carried the concept into 2026 with a 20-night residency at San Francisco's restored Castro Theatre, whose reopening they helped inaugurate, with guests during the run including Hozier, Sienna Spiro and Kim Petras. In June, the single "My Guy" introduced Smith's fifth studio album, followed by "Oh Mother" with The TwoCity Chorus and "When He's Gone." He also extended the To Be Free performances to Mexico in August. Their fifth album, Hazel Eyes, was released on August 21, 2026 through Capitol Records UK. Created closely with Aldred and partly inspired by SamSmith's new life in New York, the record marked a move away from the dance-pop emphasis of Gloria toward a more intimate blend of soul, pop, folk, gospel and acoustic songwriting. Its 12 tracks included a collaboration with Feist on "Moondance" as well as the earlier singles "Love Is A Stillness" and "To Be Free."

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.