Biography
Sam Smith: Ballads, Breaking Records and Becoming Themselves
In the Lonely Hour and a Grammy Sweep Attempt
The debut arrived fully formed. In the Lonely Hour, released in 2014, introduced Smith's falsetto ache on 'Stay With Me' and turned the album into a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic. The Recording Academy rewarded it handsomely: at the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015, Smith topped the winners' circle with four awards, taking Record of the Year and Song of the Year as co-writer of 'Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)', Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album.
The near-miss became part of the legend. Nominated in all four general categories that year, Smith missed becoming only the second artist to sweep them, settling for the largest haul of the night and a performance debut alongside Mary J. Blige. Additional nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance rounded out a debut cycle rare in modern pop, seven career nominations logged by the Academy during that era.
An Oscar, a Globe and a Bond Theme
Between albums came 007. 'Writing's on the Wall', written with regular collaborator Jimmy Napes as the theme for Spectre, won Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards on February 28, 2016, an upset over favored competitors and the second Bond theme ever to win the category after Adele's 'Skyfall'. Like Adele, Smith had warmed up with the Golden Globe in the corresponding category before completing the double.
The Oscar placed Smith in an elite line of British songwriters for film and demonstrated range beyond heartbreak balladry, even as the speech itself drew attention for its framing of the win. What mattered durably was the catalog positioning: a Bond theme, an Oscar and a Globe before a second album had even arrived, a portfolio most careers never assemble.
Number Ones, Love Goes and Speaking Their Truth
The follow-ups kept the UK chart habit alive. The Thrill of It All reached number one in 2017, and Love Goes arrived in 2020, peaking at number two, as Smith experimented with dance textures and collaborations between its ballads. Across these records the voice remained the constant: a confessional instrument equally at home in club arrangements and churchy pianos.
September 2019 brought the personal declaration that reshaped their public identity. In an Instagram post, Smith announced they had decided to embrace themselves inside and out and asked to be addressed with they/them pronouns, acknowledging nervousness about the announcement and asking for patience with mistakes. They described being non-binary as a journey they were not yet ready to articulate fully, choosing visibility and openness as the starting point, and the announcement made non-binary identity mainstream conversation in pop.
Unholy, Gloria and a Fourth Grammy
Gloria, released in January 2023, was Smith's most theatrical record, and its centerpiece single rewrote their commercial ceiling. 'Unholy', with Kim Petras, became a global number one phenomenon, its operatic villainy inescapable across formats, and it carried the album to a UK number one, Smith's third.
The Grammys followed suit. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, 'Unholy' won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Smith's fifth career Grammy and the first attached to the Gloria era. Gloria the Tour that year marked their most recent full-scale arena run, a fact that would matter when the next album cycle chose theaters over arenas, and the album's religious imagery and liberation themes set the tonal template for what came after.
The To Be Free Residencies
Instead of a conventional comeback, Smith chose rooms they could fill with intimacy. The To Be Free residency series began at Brooklyn's Warsaw in autumn 2025, continued at San Francisco's Castro Theatre in February and March 2026, where they were among the first performers on the refurbished stage, and blended greatest hits with unreleased songs and surprise guests, among them Hozier, Ed Sheeran, Brandi Carlile, SIENNA SPIRO and Kim Petras.
The format doubled as a testing ground for new material and a statement of values. In June 2026, Smith performed at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in New York to open Pride weekend at the first LGBTQ+ visitor center within the National Park Service, tying the residency era to a visible place in queer history. Dates at Mexico City's Auditorio Nacional followed in August before the series crossed the Atlantic.
Hazel Eyes and a New York Devotion
The fifth album was announced on June 24, 2026. Hazel Eyes, due August 21 via Capitol Records, collects 12 songs written over three years with a small circle including Simon Aldred, co-produced by Smith with Aldred and David Odlum, featuring contributions from Feist, Shahzad Ismaily and Rob Moose, and partly recorded at Electric Lady Studios. Smith has called it an incredibly special and deeply personal record, and a heartfelt ode to New York, the city they now call home.
The rollout moved like a residency itself: 'Love Is A Stillness' and 'To Be Free' bridged into the residency era, 'My Guy' arrived with the June announcement, 'Oh Mother' followed, and the elegiac 'When He's Gone' landed on August 6. The UK brought the era home in September 2026 with ten shows across two venues: two nights at Manchester's Albert Hall on September 3 and 4, then eight at the London Coliseum between September 8 and 19, their first UK concerts since Gloria the Tour, chasing a fourth UK number one album.
Selected moments
Career highlights
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In the Lonely Hour debut
The debut album introduced 'Stay With Me' and became a transatlantic phenomenon, establishing Smith's gospel-tinged ballad style as a pop benchmark.
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Four Grammy wins in one night
At the 57th Grammy Awards, Smith won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album, topping the ceremony's winner list.
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Academy Award for a Bond theme
'Writing's on the Wall' from Spectre won Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards, becoming the second James Bond theme to win the Oscar after Skyfall.
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Announces they/them pronouns
Smith publicly embraced a non-binary identity and asked to be addressed with they/them pronouns in a September 2019 statement emphasizing visibility and openness.
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Unholy wins at the 65th Grammys
'Unholy' with Kim Petras won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, anchoring the Gloria album cycle.
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To Be Free residencies begin
Starting at Brooklyn's Warsaw in autumn 2025 and continuing at San Francisco's Castro Theatre, Smith traded arenas for intimate residencies with surprise guests and unreleased songs.
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Hazel Eyes arrives via Capitol
Released August 21, 2026, the fifth album is a 12-track New York-inspired record co-produced with Simon Aldred and David Odlum and featuring Feist and Shahzad Ismaily.
Recognition
Awards and Recognition
Sam Smith has won five Grammy Awards: four at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for the In the Lonely Hour cycle, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for 'Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)', and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for 'Unholy' with Kim Petras at the 65th ceremony in 2023.
Film music brought two further marquee prizes for 'Writing's on the Wall': the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards in February 2016 and the Golden Globe in the equivalent original-song category earlier that awards season.
- GRAMMY Awards
- 5 wins
- Academy Awards
- 1 win
- Golden Globe Awards
- 1 win
| Year | Award | Category | Work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | GRAMMY Awards | Record Of The YearWinner | Stay With Me (Darkchild Version) |
| 2015 | GRAMMY Awards | Song Of The YearWinner | Stay With Me (Darkchild Version) |
| 2015 | GRAMMY Awards | Best New ArtistWinner | |
| 2015 | GRAMMY Awards | Best Pop Vocal AlbumWinner | In The Lonely Hour |
| 2015 | GRAMMY Awards | Album Of The YearNominee | In The Lonely Hour |
| 2015 | GRAMMY Awards | Best Pop Solo PerformanceNominee | Stay With Me (Darkchild Version) |
| 2016 | Academy Awards | Best Original SongWinner | Writing's On The Wall |
| 2016 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Original Song – Motion PictureWinner | Writing's On The Wall |
| 2023 | GRAMMY Awards | Best Pop Duo/Group PerformanceWinner | Unholy (with Kim Petras) |