There was something missing from the music scene in 2014. While we had poppy (and a little soulful) Justin Beiber and the beautifully belting Adele, we were missing a soothing male voice. Lucky for Sam Smith, that was the year he put out his first album. It wasn’t his first time on the charts – he put out a few songs in 2012, but the 2014 album was his rise to fame. He had adults and children alike belting out “why won’t you stay with me?” in cars and karaoke clubs everywhere. With that song’s smash-hit success, the music industry decided they would stay with Sam Smith. It’s been uphill from there.

A Lifelong Musician

Sam has been singing ever since he can remember. He sang in choirs in his early years, then attended St. Mary’s Catholic school, to study music. He says he takes inspiration from both Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, which makes sense, given his profound sound. In 2012, when Smith was just 21, he got the opportunity to collaborate on an electronica track, even though that’s not his preferred genre. The song was produced by the duo Disclosure and throughout their song “Latch”, you can hear Sam’s vocals. The combination of dance music and Sam’s voice was wildly successful and topped out as a single on the UK’s charts. This success gave Sam the confidence and push he needed to pursue his first solo album.

2014 and Beyond

Sam collaborated on a few more tracks before releasing his “In the Lonely Hour” debut album in 2014. His vulnerability, expert writing, and haunting delivery earned him four Grammy awards for that album alone. Since the release of his first album, Sam has not only collaborated with the great John Legend, but he lost a significant amount of weight, too. These days he’s busy writing music for James Bond Movies and acting as an ally for LGBTQ+ people.