Sam Smith Biography

Samuel Frederick "Sam" Smith is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame in October 2012 when he was featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. His subsequent feature—on Naughty Boy's "La La La"—earned him his first number one single in May 2013.
In December 2013, he was nominated for the 2014 BRIT Critics' Choice Award and the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll, both of which he won. He released his debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, in May 2014 on Capitol Records. The lead single, "Lay Me Down", was released prior to "La La La". The second single, "Money on My Mind", became his second number one single in the UK. The album's third single, "Stay with Me", was an international success, reaching number one in the UK and number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, while the fourth single "I'm Not the Only One" reached the top five in both countries. The fifth single, "Like I Can", reached number nine in the UK.

In December 2014, Smith was nominated for six Grammy Awards, and at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015 he won four: Best New Artist, "Stay with Me" for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and In the Lonely Hour for Best Pop Vocal Album. At the 2015 Brit Awards, he won the awards for British Breakthrough Act and Global Success.

Smith was born in London, England, the son of Frederick Smith and Kate Cassidy, a broker. He is an alumnus of Youth Music Theatre UK and starred in their 2007 production of "Oh! Carol". Before entering the musical theatre, Smith had been in jazz bands. For a number of years he studied singing and songwriting under jazz pianist Joanna Eden. He attended St Mary's Catholic School in Bishop's Stortford. He was a member of the Bishop's Stortford Junior Operatics (now Bishops Stortford Musical Theatre Society) and the Cantate Youth Choir.