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🇬🇧 United Kingdom · 2008–present

Sam Smith

Samuel Frederick Smith, known artistically as Sam Smith, was born on May 19, 1992, in London. He is a renowned British singer and songwriter.Smith spent his childhood in a rural area of England, where he began taking singing lessons at the age of eight and participated in musical theater productions. During his adolescence, several agents tried to promote his career without success. Inspired by Lady Gaga's story, at eighteen he moved to London to pursue a music career. His recognition came in October 2012 when he collaborated on the single «Latch» by Disclosure, which reached number 11 on the UK singles chart. His next collaboration, «La La La» with Naughty Boy, was even more successful, reaching number 1 on the same chart early in 2013.

Impressed by his performance at a concert, Steve Barnett of Capitol Records offered him a recording contract.In 2014, Smith was chosen as the winner of the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll and received the critics' choice award at that year's Brit Awards. In February and April, he released the singles «Money on My Mind» and «Stay with Me» from his debut album In the Lonely Hour (2014). Both singles reached number 1 in the UK, and «Stay with Me» reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. His vocal ability was widely praised. At the 57th Grammy Awards, Smith won the awards for best new artist, song of the year, recording of the year, and best pop vocal album.

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Biography

At the 2015 Brit Awards, he was awarded British artist of the year and global success for his international sales. In 2016, he received the Golden Globe and the Oscar for best original song for «Writing's on the Wall» from the film Spectre. He has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.In 2019, Smith publicly identified as non-binary.Since his childhood and adolescence, Smith participated in musical theater rehearsals and was part of jazz bands, which taught him discipline and vocal technique, as well as expanded his vocal range. He also expressed his love for pop music. At eight years old, he began taking singing lessons and composing with Joanna Edén, a local jazz singer, after his parents heard him singing a Whitney Houston song.

His singing teacher often invited him to sing in the choruses of a club where she performed. At eleven years old, he acquired an amplifier and used a small greenhouse in his house as an improvised stage, where he sang for his friends and his mother's associates. Since twelve years old, he had six artistic representatives who failed to realize his fame aspirations. In 2008, he was an opening act at an Adele concert at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire and met Elvin Smith, who later became one of his managers. The following year, his mother lost her job because the company considered she was spending too much time on Smith's career. At eighteen, motivated by Lady Gaga's story, he moved to London to pursue his music career and worked in several bars for two years.

Details

Nacimiento
19 may 1992
País
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Género
alternative r&b

Awards and honors

  • Grammy
  • Brit Awards

Record labels

EMI