Confession Time.  Somehow (!), we have kind of overlooked the phenomenon that is Sam Smith.  Until now, that is.  And in typical Queerguru fashion,  we have listened/watched them perform ‘Both Sides Now’ live at the London Proms Concert, and have become somewhat obsessed.  As our slightly annoyed neighbors will testify ….. but see for yourself why..

The world at large first took notice of them (Sam’s chosen pronoun)  in 2014 when their debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour  was released and included three Number 1 hits in the UK, including Stay with Me, which also reached Number 2 on the US Billboard Charts.  It won them 4 Grammy Awards too.  There was no stopping them as next year their song  “Writing’s on the Wall” served as the theme for the James Bond film Spectre (2015), and won Smith a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

So far in their career to date, their numerous accolades include five Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, and an American Music Award, as well as a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. On the UK Albums Chart, In the Lonely Hour was the best-selling debut album of the 2010s and the sixth best-selling album of the decade, while collectively Smith’s albums spent the fourth-most weeks at number one in the 2010s, behind Ed Sheeran, Adele and Eminem. 

Smith is the first openly non-binary musician to both release a song that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and to win a Grammy Award.

They first came on our radar in 2015 the year after they had come out as gay and at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards when “Stay with Me” won an award for Record of the Year, they said, “I want to thank the man this record is about, whom I fell in love with last year. Thank you so much for breaking my heart because you got me four Grammys!“.

In October 2017, Smith came out as genderqueer and later n September 2019, they came out as non-binary and changed their pronouns to they/them, stating, “After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out …”.

Now they are releasing ‘To Be Free’  their first piece of new music since 2023  which was written some 5 years ago.  “I wrote this song with my dear friend Simon Aldred. It’s one vocal and guitar take from start to finish, made complete by the beautiful injection of the incredible choir we’ve been working with across this new project,” they said.

Another very good reason to admire Smith is that last year they launched the LGBTQ+ charity, The Pink House, to help “secure a happy home” for queer people. Named after the singer’s childhood home, The Pink House, which is still being set up based on the website, will be “a safe creative space, free to visit anytime, filled with shared experience and pathways to better wellbeing” for LGBTQ+ people. The Pink House is built in celebration of all queer people, and is designed to be a happy home for all.