THE VOICE BEHIND A DECADE OF CHART-TOPPING BALLADS
Sam Smith
b. 1992 · Musician
Early Life
Samuel Frederick Smith was born on May 19, 1992, in London, England, and grew up in Great Chishill, Cambridgeshire. They are a third cousin of singer Lily Allen and showed an interest in singing from a young age, performing in jazz clubs as a teenager before pursuing music professionally.
Smith spent several years working to break into the music industry, writing and performing in relative obscurity before the collaboration that would launch their career arrived.
Rise to Fame
Smith rose to prominence in 2012 featuring on Disclosure’s “Latch,” which reached number eleven on the UK Singles Chart and introduced their distinctive voice to a wide audience. The following year, they collaborated with Naughty Boy on “La La La,” which became a UK number-one hit and cemented their reputation as a rising vocal talent.
Their debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, released in 2014, debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and became the best-selling debut album of the 2010s in the UK. The album spawned several major hits, including “Stay with Me,” which reached number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Career Highlights
At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Smith won four awards, including Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album. They later won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for “Writing’s on the Wall,” the James Bond theme from Spectre in 2015, making them one of relatively few artists to win an Oscar for a film theme song.
In 2022, their collaboration with Kim Petras, “Unholy,” became their first US number-one single and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2023, making Smith the first openly non-binary artist to win a Grammy Award. Heading into 2025 and 2026, Smith has been performing a residency titled “To Be Free” and has an album titled Hazel Eyes slated for 2026.
Personal Life
Smith came out as gay in May 2014, and in October 2017 revealed they are non-binary, saying, “I feel just as much a woman as I am a man.” In September 2019, Smith began using they/them pronouns publicly.
Smith has continued to speak openly about identity, mental health, and body image throughout their career, using their platform to advocate for greater visibility and acceptance of non-binary and LGBTQ+ people in mainstream pop culture.
Net Worth & Legacy
Sam Smith’s net worth is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars, built through album sales, touring, songwriting, and a run of some of the best-selling singles of the past decade.
From a breakout feature on a dance track to the best-selling UK debut album of the 2010s and an Academy Award-winning theme song, Smith’s career has combined vocal power with genuine cultural impact, and their status as the first openly non-binary Grammy winner has made them a significant figure in pop music’s ongoing evolution.