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Sam Smith

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Sam Smith
Sam Smith performing at Royale in Boston on 5 August 2013
Sam Smith performing at Royale in Boston on 5 August 2013
Background information
Birth nameSamuel Frederick Smith[1]
Born (1992-05-19) 19 May 1992 (age 32)
Great Chishill, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
GenresPop, dance-pop, soul, R&B, house, breakbeat
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Years active2012—present
LabelsCapitol Records, PMR Records, V&M Music, Kosmo Records, Four Music, All Around The World, Sony Music
Websitesamsmithworld.com

Samuel Frederick "Sam" Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer-songwriter. He rose to fame in October 2012 when he featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK chart. His subsequent feature—on Naughty Boy's "La La La"—earned him his first number-one single in May 2013.

In December 2013, Smith was nominated for the 2014 BRIT Critics' Choice Award and the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll;[2][3] both of which he went on to win.[4][5] He is scheduled to release his debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, on 26 May 2014 via Capitol Records.[6] The lead single, "Lay Me Down", was released prior to "La La La". The second single, "Money on My Mind", was released on 16 February.[7]

Early life

Sam grew up in Great Chishill, Cambridgeshire and worked at his local shop in Barley, Hertfordshire. He had music lessons at St. Thomas More Primary School, Saffron Walden and studied at St Mary's Catholic School, Bishops Stortford. Sam is an alumnus of Youth Music Theatre UK and starred in their 2007 production of "Oh! Carol".[8] For a number of years he studied singing and songwriting under jazz vocalist/pianist Joanna Eden.

In 2009, his mother Kate Cassidy, a former City 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.[9][10]

He is a third-cousin of singer Lily Allen and actor Alfie Allen.[11]

Music career

2012–13: Breakthrough

In October 2012 Sam Smith featured on Disclosure's single "Latch", the single was released on October 8, 2012 and peaked to number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2013 he released his debut single "Lay Me Down", which also serves as the lead single from his debut album. In May 2013 he featured on Naughty Boy's single "La La La". The single was released on 19 May 2013 and entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart.[citation needed] He released an EP this summer consisting of four tracks. The first, titled "Safe With Me", is produced by Two Inch Punch and premiered on MistaJam's BBC Radio 1Xtra show on 24 July 2013.[12] 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".[13] 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.[6] He describes the album as "all about unrequited love" because he has never been loved back by any of his love interests.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] Smith went on his debut American headlining tour in the Spring of 2014, with a setlist of primarily new material.[14]

Smith made his American television debut on Saturday Night Live on 29 March 2014,[17][18][19] performing "Stay with Me" and "Lay Me Down".

Personal life

Smith cites Amy Winehouse as an influence, so much so that in May 2014 he tweeted that he still missed her.[20]

Discography

Main article: Sam Smith discography
Studio albums
Extended plays

Awards and nominations

Year Organisation Award Work Result
2014 MTV Brand New For 2014[21] — Nominated
BRIT Awards Critics' Choice[22] — Won
Single of the Year[23] "La La La" Nominated
BBC Sound of 2014[3] — Won

References

  1. ^ "Songwriter/Composer: Smith, Samuel Frederick". Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Brits announce Critics' Choice 2014 shortlist". BBC. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Sound of 2014 Profile: Sam Smith". BBC. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  4. ^ "Brits Critics' Choice Award 2014: Sam Smith announced as winner". The Telegraph. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  5. ^ "BBC Sound of 2014: Sam Smith". BBC. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  6. ^ 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)
  7. ^ "'Money On My Mind' - EP by Sam Smith". Itunes (UK). Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  8. ^ "Alumni Youth Music Theatre UK". 2013-12-17.
  9. ^ "City banker is 'sacked for spending too much company time on son's pop dream'".
  10. ^ "Banker claims she was sacked for promoting son's pop career".
  11. ^ "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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  12. ^ "New: Sam Smith - Safe With Me". Crack in the Road. 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  13. ^ "iTunes - Music - Nirvana - EP by Sam Smith". iTunes. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  14. ^ 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).
  15. ^ "I've Told You Now (Live At St Pancras Old Church, London): Sam Smith". Amazon.com. 2013-12-27.
  16. ^ "iTunes - Music - Make It To Me - Single by Sam Smith". iTunes. 2014-01-13.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Tharrett, Matthew (27 March 2014). "Is Sam Smith The World's Next Great Male Diva? / Queerty". Queerty. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  20. ^ "This Week's Fresh Music". 17 May 2014. 4Music. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  21. ^ "MTV's Brand New For 2014 Nominees announced". MTV. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  22. ^ "Sam Smith wins Brits Critics' Choice award". BBC. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  23. ^ "Brit Awards nominations 2014: full list". The Telegraph. 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-01-16.

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