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Sam Smith

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Sam Smith
Smith performing at Royale in Boston, on August 5, 2013
Smith performing at Royale in Boston, on August 5, 2013
Background information
Birth nameSamuel Frederick Smith[1]
Born (1992-05-19) 19 May 1992 (age 32)
London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Years active2012–present
Labels
Websitesamsmithworld.com

Samuel Frederick "Sam" Smith (born 19 May 1992)[2] is a British singer-songwriter. He rose to fame in October 2012 when he was featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at #11 on the UK chart. His subsequent feature—on Naughty Boy's "La La La"—earned him his first #1 single in May 2013.

In December 2013, he was nominated for the 2014 BRIT Critics' Choice Award and the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll,[3][4] both of which he won.[5][6] He released his debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, in May 2014 on Capitol Records.[7] The lead single, "Lay Me Down", was released prior to "La La La". The second single was "Money on My Mind".[8] The album's third single "Stay with Me" was an international success, peaking atop the UK Singles Chart and reaching number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Early life

Sam Smith was born in London, England.[2] He is an alumnus of Youth Music Theatre UK and starred in their 2007 production of "Oh! Carol".[9] For a number of years he studied singing and songwriting under jazz vocalist/pianist Joanna Eden.[10] He attended St Mary's Catholic School in Bishop's Stortford.[11] He was a member of the Bishop's Stortford Junior Operatics (now Bishops Stortford Musical Theatre Society) and the successful Cantate Youth Choir (http://www.cantate.co.uk/)

In 2009, his mother Kate Cassidy, a banker who earned more than £500,000 a year, launched a £1.5m High Court battle against her former employers Tullett Prebon. The company dismissed her amid accusations that she was spending too much time managing her son's music career.[12][13]

He is a third-cousin of singer Lily Allen and actor Alfie Allen.[14]

Music career

2012–13: Breakthrough

In October 2012, Smith featured on Disclosure's single "Latch"; it was released on 8 October 2012 and peaked at #11 on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2013 he released his debut single "Lay Me Down", the lead single from his debut album. He featured on Naughty Boy's single "La La La"; the single was released on 19 May 2013, hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart on 26 May 2013 ― for the week ending dated 1 June 2013 ― and was dethroned the following week by Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell Williams and T.I..[citation needed] He released an EP consisting of four tracks. The first, titled "Stay with Me", is produced by Two Inch Punch and premiered on MistaJam's BBC Radio 1Xtra show on 24 July 2013.[15] 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".[16] Smith released the Disclosure, Nile Rodgers, and Jimmy Napes collaboration "Together" on 25 November 2013 as the only single from Settle: The Remixes. Smith won the BRIT Critics' Choice Award 2014.

2013–present: In the Lonely Hour

Main article: In the Lonely Hour

The second single from his 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 titled In the Lonely Hour would be released on 26 May 2014 through Capitol Records.[7] He describes the album as "all about unrequited love" because he has never been loved back by any of his love interests.[17] A live version of album track "I've Told You Now", performed at St Pancras Old Church, was made available for free download as part of an Amazon.com promotion on 27 December 2013.[18] The album track "Make It To Me", co-written by Howard of Disclosure and Jimmy Napes, was made available for free download as part of an iTunes Store promotion on 13 January 2014.[19] Smith went on his debut American headlining tour in the Spring of 2014, with a setlist of primarily new material.[17]

On January 20, 2014, Smith made his American television debut performing "Latch" with Disclosure on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon". He also performed on Saturday Night Live on 29 March 2014,[20][21][22] performing "Stay with Me" and "Lay Me Down".

In June 2014, Sam Smith first appeared on the cover of The Fader in its 92nd issue.[23] In August 2014, Smith's single "Stay with Me" was named Variance Magazine's Song of Summer. [24]

Personal life

Smith cites Amy Winehouse as an influence.[25] He further lists Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey as influences. In May 2014, Smith declared himself as gay.[26] Smith also explained that many of the songs on his debut album were inspired by unrequited love, stating "In the Lonely Hour is about a guy that I fell in love with last year, and he didn’t love me back. I think I'm over it now, but I was in a very dark place. I kept feeling lonely in the fact that I hadn't felt love before."[10]

In an interview with 4Music, Smith opened up about his struggles with obsessive–compulsive disorder. "I actually have OCD really bad, and it's getting a bit worse at the moment," he said. "I have to check taps... before I leave the house, to make sure I've checked everything in case it floods."[27]

Discography

Main article: Sam Smith discography

Awards and nominations

Year Organization Award Work Result Ref.
2013 MOBO Awards Best Newcomer Himself Nominated
Best Song "La La La" Won
Best Video Won
2014 BRIT Awards Single of the Year Nominated [28]
Critics' Choice Himself Won [29]
BBC Sound of 2014 Won [4]
MTV Brand New For 2014 Nominated [30]
MTV Video Music Awards Artist to Watch "Stay with Me" Pending
Best Male Video Pending
Young Hollywood Awards Song of the Summer/DJ Replay Nominated
Hottest Music Artist Himself Nominated
Breakout Music Artist Won

References

  1. ^ "Songwriter/Composer: Smith, Samuel Frederick". Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b Wilkinson, James. "Artist Biography". AllMusic.com]]. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  3. ^ "Brits announce Critics' Choice 2014 shortlist". BBC. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Sound of 2014 Profile: Sam Smith". BBC. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  5. ^ "Brits Critics' Choice Award 2014: Sam Smith announced as winner". The Telegraph. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  6. ^ "BBC Sound of 2014: Sam Smith". BBC. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Sam Smith announces debut album In the Lonely Hour, shares tour dates". Fact. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "'Money On My Mind' - EP by Sam Smith". Itunes (UK). Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  9. ^ "Alumni Youth Music Theatre UK". 2013-12-17.
  10. ^ a b "Sam Smith Opens up About Life and Love". The Fader. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Former Stortford schoolboy Sam Smith gears up for tonight's Brit awards". 2014-02-19.
  12. ^ "City banker is 'sacked for spending too much company time on son's pop dream'".
  13. ^ "Banker claims she was sacked for promoting son's pop career".
  14. ^ "Nick Grimshaw and BBC Sound Of winner Sam Smith joke about Lily Allen's 'big mouth'". New Musical Express. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  15. ^ "New: Sam Smith - Safe With Me". Crack in the Road. 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  16. ^ "iTunes - Music - Nirvana - EP by Sam Smith". iTunes. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  17. ^ a b Ollman, Jonah (28 March 2014). "The Angel of Cambridge: Sam Smith". Sound of Boston. Retrieved 29 March 2014. Cite error: The named reference "Sound of Boston" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  18. ^ "I've Told You Now (Live At St Pancras Old Church, London): Sam Smith". Amazon.com. 2013-12-27.
  19. ^ "iTunes - Music - Make It To Me - Single by Sam Smith". iTunes. 2014-01-13.
  20. ^ Montgomery, James (27 March 2014). "Meet Sam Smith: The British Bartender Set To Take The 'Saturday Night Live' Stage - MTV.com". MTV. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  21. ^ Exton, Emily (28 March 2014). "Get To Know Sam Smith Before He Plays Saturday Night Live - Music News + Gossip - VH1 Music". VH1. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  22. ^ Tharrett, Matthew (27 March 2014). "Is Sam Smith The World's Next Great Male Diva? / Queerty". Queerty. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  23. ^ "Cover Story: Sam Smith Opens Up About Life and Love". The FADER. The FADER. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  24. ^ . Variance Magazine http://variancemagazine.com/sounds/3312-songs-of-summer-2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Text "title: Readers Select 2014 Songs of Summer" ignored (help)
  25. ^ "This Week's Fresh Music". 17 May 2014. 4Music. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  26. ^ "Sam Smith Opens Up About Being Gay, Reveals Album Is About a Guy Who Didn't Love Him Back". Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  27. ^ "Sam Smith: 5 things you don't know about me". 4Music. Retrieved 29 May 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  28. ^ "Brit Awards nominations 2014: full list". The Telegraph. 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
  29. ^ "Sam Smith wins Brits Critics' Choice award". BBC. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  30. ^ "MTV's Brand New For 2014 Nominees announced". MTV. Retrieved 2014-01-10.

External links

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