Today's Out Spotlight is an English singer and songwriter who was nominated for 6 Grammy awards. Today's Out Spotlight is Sam Smith.
Samuel Frederick "Sam" Smith was born May 19, 1992 in London, England, the son of Kate Cassidy and Frederick Smith. 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.
Smith studied singing and songwriting under jazz vocalist/pianist Joanna Eden. He attended St Mary's Catholic School in Bishop's Stortford and was a member of the Bishop's Stortford Junior Operatics (now Bishops Stortford Musical Theatre Society) and the successful Cantate Youth Choir.
He rose to fame in October 2012 when he was featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. His subsequent feature—on Naughty Boy's "La La La"—earned him his first number 1 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 was "Money on My Mind" which became his second number one single in the UK. The album's third single, "Stay with Me", was an international success, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart 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. Fifth single "Like I Can" reached number nine in the UK.
On January 20 2014, Smith made his American television debut performing "Latch" with Disclosure on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He also performed on Saturday Night Live on March 29 2014, performing "Stay with Me" and an acoustic version of "Lay Me Down". "Stay with Me" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The fourth single from the album, "I'm Not the Only One", reached number three in the UK and number five in the U.S.
In August 2014, Smith's single "Stay with Me" was named Variance Magazine's Song of Summer. He performed "Stay With Me" live at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards on August 24 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. On November 15 2014, Smith joined the charity group Band Aid 30 along with other British and Irish pop acts, recording the latest version of the track "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London.
In February 2015, Smith subsequently awarded 12.5% of the royalties from his hit "Stay with Me" to Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, co-writers of Petty's 1989 hit "I Won't Back Down", upon being confronted with the similarities between the two songs. Petty and Lynne are now listed as co-writers on the track.
Smith won a 2014 American Music Award for Favorite Male Artist - Pop/Rock.
In December 2014, Smith was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, "Stay with Me" for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and In the Lonely Hour for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. During the Grammy's held this evening (February 8, 2015) he won four including: Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. During one of his acceptance speeches Smith said his success came when he was able to truly be himself.
In May 2014, Smith revealed to the public that he is gay. His former partner is Jonathan Zeizel.
28 comments:
Big winner last night. Song and Record of the year. His duet with Mary Blige was awesome. Such a beautiful song .
The music he does is not generally the kind I like to listen to, but I agree that he makes beautiful music, and has a great voice. I do like some of his big hits too.
It's just so awesome to have such a big pop star who is openly gay. I haven't seen his performance from last night yet, I was out, but I recorded the whole show so I can see all the live performances.
Nice profile of our Sam :)
They say imitation is a high form of flattery but seriously, Jake's people need to get 1/2 a brain and come up with their own original stuff. Tired of them "borrowing" and "stealing".
Remember when I said this?
Please indulge me for just a spot, lol. I can't resist. I will never forget seeing them both for the first time in the photo op room as I crossed over the threshold and there they were taking their picture with other fans who were in line in front of me. And I was so spellbound by Jared that I walked right past Jensen!! I can't even believe I did that. I walked right by him and I made a smash sandwich motion with my hands and I could not utter a word. I was speechless. It was AWFUL and I didn't even say hi or thank you or anything. Well, I said thank you at the end, I think, when Jared told me thank you.
I BLEW IT!!!! Oh, it still makes me sick, lol. I could not talk. I was like - frozen. They're both so beautiful. And they're so nice, that's what kills me.
This appeared on Tumblr a few days ago.
From the account freeyourmindandtherestwillfollow:
this life update is 90% jake gyllenhaal
the other night i saw “constellations” on broadway and it managed to f*** me up in the best way possible. it was brilliant.
jake gyllenhaal and ruth wilson starred in it and they were the only 2 people in the play. it was wicked cool.
after the show they came out with the director to have a discussion with the audience about it and they are both lovely people but jake gyllenhaal is so funny and smart and well spoken
after that, i met him at the stage door and he is such a sweet guy and f***ING GORGEOUS I’MS o
i handed him my playbill just as someone started posing for a picture with him and i kind of jerked it away and said sorry but he took it back and was like “don’t worry about it i’ll sign it” and i just
and then i was like “u were terrific w o w” and he said thank u and handed me my playbill back and looked right at me with those gorgeous sky blue eyes and gave me this huge smile and F****
i love celebrities and famous people and i love meeting them and talking to them and i can usually hold my own around them even if i’m crying or s/t i can speak but
I WAS SO CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY HOW HANDSOME JAKE WAS I DIDN’T ASK HIM FOR A PICTURE IJUST STOOD THERE GAPING I literally am so f***ing embarrassed i jsufsiofjafe
i think he knew it too bc he stared at me for a few seconds and smiled a little wider and then moved on to the next person sORRY JAKE MAYBE NEXT TIME FFS
but i have like a proper crush on him now he’s…..sdfjjsfljsafoe i really like him a lot oh g o d
"constellations" is the 30th broadway show i’ve ever seen and i honestly think it’s going to stick with me forever
And of course she tagged the appropriate #jake gyllenhaal #constellations #ruth(ie) wilson.
Mgmnt? You ripped that off of me and it's not the first time you've done this. Get your own material. At least mine was real and it was honest.
This is pretty interesting. Look at what someone tweeted at Austin (and Tom Hiddleston & Hughie J as well):
wugguwgays website @WugguwGayMirage 2h2 hours ago
@twhiddleston @RealHughJackman @AUS10NICHOLS Dear Gays http://www.wugguw.com "Wonderful United Gays Gays United Wonderful" Gaysite fabulous
6:40 PM - 11 Feb 2015 · Details
And so I guess once wasn't enough so they tweeted it two more times at them, once in another language and the other time with a slight word change so that Twitter would allow them to retweet it again. lol. Man oh man.
3rd time's a charm I guess
Too funny PG about the tweets, and the "borrowing" of your writing.
Looks like Jake's management team is upset on several fronts. First off, I don't think they much appreciated Austin's shout out to Francois De La Rochefoucauld about disguising oneself from others (closet anyone?). Now, Constellations is suddenly adding three more shows, but interestingly enough they are at 10:00 p.m. on Fridays only. Remember, it’s important to dig deeper when looking at changes in his schedule. Ostensibly, this addition looks like Jake is so committed to his Broadway play. A dedicated actor, with free time on his hands. But, if one looks closer, a different story emerges.
Specifically, since Jake is already at the theater for the 8 p.m. performances, there's no big impact on his schedule to stay a bit longer. Notice, however, that Jake makes sure to keep his long weekends intact: Only one 2 p.m. show (70 minute performance) on Sundays; no shows on Monday. And, only one show on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Looks like Jake secured a nice long weekend for his Broadway debut. Long enough to fly off to be with the kids and Austin. You're not fooling anyone, Jake.
BOOM!!
Yup, Jake has a long weekend - it's just not your conventional Friday through Sunday. His weekend starts on Sunday after that afternoon performance and he doesn't have to be back until that Tuesday evening performance.
Big deal he's adding another late Fri. performance. Doesn't matter. He has no one to go home to anyway, right Jake? He's got nothing else to do.
We're blowing some stuff up tonight. Get a load of this. This is unbelievable.
So yesterday, after Austin's tweet:
AUSTIN NICHOLS (@AUS10NICHOLS)
2/11/15, 13:31
"We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves. -Francois De La Rochefoucauld
I saw it because one of @goosestile's followers pointed it out to me. And so he and I carried out a bit of a conversation about Austin's tweet. We shared a very like-minded observation - he tweeted that he wondered if Austin was getting frustrated being in the closet and hidden while Jake got to do all the acting in the family and going to award shows, etc.
So what happened after that?
This morning, this twitter account tweeted at this same follower of my goosestile acct, unasked and he tweeted this at this follower:
Toothy Tile (@Toothy_Tile)
2/12/15, 02:23
@Patrick_Fogerty Sorry but GT is crazy and delusional liar. Ignoring facts and common sense to sell J&A fiction. J is gay, but A loves ...
Toothy Tile @Toothy_Tile · 19h 19 hours ago
@Patrick_Fogerty ... sex with girls. And seems happy working, networking, traveling and dating C. http://waitingfortoothy-part2.blogspot.com/
3:26 AM - 12 Feb 2015
Toothy Tile @Toothy_Tile
@Patrick_Fogerty P.S. Two weeks in China and Thailand, trips to Canada, NYC, Chicago, Hawaii, Florida, activism, parties, writing, ...
4:51 AM - 12 Feb 2015
You recognize that voice? Those words and phrases? The agenda?
You bet that is the voice of Mgmnt. They operate that twitter account. That twitter account was originated in December of 2009. I've seen it around a few times but never paid much attention to it.
But now I see who's operating it. smh. So Mgmnt is so threatened, so unhappy with my conversation with my follower, that they went after this follower, trying to dissuade him from talking to/being influenced by the @goosestile account.
Unstinkinbelievable.
Jake and his people are getting horrifically desperate. I've about seen it all now.
Notice that the troll did not spell out Jake's name. Nor Austin's. Nor ol' Chlo's name. He just used "J" or "A" or "J&A". Then he referred to Chlo simply as "C".
That's because he probably didn't want to draw attention to them, but he knew that my follower would know who he was talking about.
Good point, PG. And, that my friends, proves that this WFT "voice" works for Jake's Management company. Why? Well, because no lone wolf, who is simply a fan of Jake's, would be so careful to phrase a tweet in such a way that no one, except the recipient, would know who he was talking about. Sounds to me like someone who doesn't want the wider twitterverse to associate Jake with Austin and Chloe. Whereas a fan could care less, Jake's people would care a lot.
Now here's the kicker. Here's a little tidbit that the Paid Troll didn't know and that he doesn't know about the person he was talking to and why that person follows @goosestile.
My friend saw Jake and Austin
together at Coogie's Cafe in Malibu back in 2008 having breakfast together when he was there with some friends.
So Troll is wasting his time trying to sell him on straight Austin.
To be precise, PG, it was in June 2008 at Coogies Beach Cafe
Address: 23750 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90265.
Right before Austin and Jake were married.
BOOM!!
Remember that's when Naomi was seen with Jake, Reese and Jim Sheridan. The public reason they supposedly congregated was to view Brothers in some private screening. Jake was later photographed wearing a grey sweatshirt that had baby drool on the shoulder.
The public reason they supposedly congregated was to view Brothers in some private screening. Jake was later photographed wearing a grey sweatshirt that had baby drool on the shoulder.
Awwwwww!! Wow. Remember that? It seems so, so long ago. That's 6 years ago, but yet it seems more like 20 yrs ago because of how much Jake has changed. And now, not only Jake but Austin has changed as well.
I actually miss that Jake of 2008-2009. Geesh. Makes me almost wish those boys would get knocked up again just to soften them up a bit. Because now they're as rough as Dollar General sandpaper.
It really is amazing the lengths they go to, trying to tear us down while trying not to call attention to themselves. Why they think such hard-handed tactics are not going to backfire is beyond me. Only someone with something to hide does this.
I couldn't believe it, Destiny. For whatever reason, last night I decided to do a Twitter search on Toothy Tile and those tweets popped up right at the top of my search. Then I noticed who he was talking to and I was like what in the hell.
It's one thing to go to a Just Jared thread or another blog thread (i.e. that blog post on Jake where he made a comment under my name after someone had commented about Jake & Austin's new daughter) and impersonate us or use our blogger name. That's one thing.
It's something else to approach one of my twitter followers and try to discredit me behind my back with a pack of lies. If you're going to discredit me, at least tell the truth on something. But he was trying to sell the follower on Austin-is-straight and that is just unbelievable.
Like I said, that twitter account was created back in December of 2009 and now I know whose it is. A Toothy Tile twitter account and a Waiting for Toothy blog that believes and promotes Grey Goose (Austin) as straight and dating ol' Chlo?
The changes that have been going on behind the scenes in JakeWorld are unreal. And here's another kicker. So Jake's career is on this resurgance. He's cranking out movie after movie, he's on Broadway, he's on magazine covers, he's one of Harvey Weinstein's new fave sons, he's up for Golden Globes and SAG awards and he's squiring around tipsy Ruthie on his gallant arm and he's going to boxing matches and hanging with Rihanna and there has never been more Jake news, more Jake activity, more more more Beloved Jake for all of his fans.
And yet what's going on with his blogs? They've been closing up shop, that's what. WFT2 has been gone forever - Jackie isn't there anymore. WDW is no more.
Brokeback fanfic and posts on Jake on LiveJournal have pretty much gone up in smoke - LJ is so dead as far as he's concerned, it's a morgue. The only active other blog is GB.
Don't you find that odd? You would think with all of this Jake resurgance, that he would have excited blogs sprouting up all over the place. And you wouldn't expect to see his blogs closing up or dead with activity.
Fascinating, isn't it.
I love Prince Harry :))))))
Prince Harry has said he might try relationships with men if he “changes his mind” about women, while on a night out with his current girlfriend.
Harry and his girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, were taking a night out together at The Rum Kitchen in Notting Hill on Friday, when Harry was slipped the phone number of Vincenzo Ianniello.
He reportedly accepted the number happily, and promised to call Mr Ianniello if he changed his mind about dating women.
What Prince Harry said is really cool Tom, I hadn't read about that.
Did I read that New England is in for another round of snow?
I hope you're surviving this winter okay Special. I have to say I could never live in Boston.
I recently went to see the movie "The Imitation Game". I am sure glad I did. I was totally unaware of the story behind its main character Alan Turing. Alan was a genius and a hero. His invention played a huge role in the defeat of the Nazis in WWII. Alan was Gay and after the war was convicted of committing the crime of a homosexual act in private. He was blackmailed and admitted to the act instead of giving into the blackmail. He chose the punishment of chemical castration over going to jail. Alan was an athlete and the chemical he had to take took a horrible effect on his body. Because he could not handle it Alan committed suicide. As of today Alan and many others still have criminal records in Great Britain. Because of the movie an what it brought to light there is a movement to have those people exonerated and their criminal records removed from the books. The Prime Minister of Great Britain has recently publicly apologized to Mr Turing and the Royal family has gotten involved even though they have no power over legislation. I am so grateful that I have lived long enough to see change begin and attitudes change, especially among young people. We are all different but in the end we are all just trying to be loved and accepted for who we are and to live without fear. I am glad I went to see the movie and learn what I did about Alan.
Wow, I had no idea about that movie, Tom, thanks for sharing that.
So that's Benedict Cumberbatch's (sp?) movie. While I couldn't watch it because of the human suffering content, it's obviously a movie of huge impact.
How terrible, that poor man.
I am so grateful that I have lived long enough to see change begin and attitudes change, especially among young people. We are all different but in the end we are all just trying to be loved and accepted for who we are and to live without fear.
Amen, Tom.
The movie itself is not about what happened to Turning socially PG. It is about his accomplishments in helping defeat the nazis in WWII. It was a very good and interesting moving. They do tell you at the end what happened to him afterward :-(
I keep meaning to see that movie, but the darn cold weather and movie times that don't work with my schedule keep getting in the way.
It's wonderful - I hope it wins an academy award. Everything about it, every minute, holds something incredible to see - even the buildings and the settings. I loved Keira Knightly as an ordinary woman with extraordinary brains too. That scene is fun. Benedict is awesome as always.
And her character's sensitivity is just outstanding. Is she nominated for Best Supporting Actress? I hope she wins.
Yes, Keira Knightley is nominated, but the odds on favorite to win is Patricia Arquette.
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