British soul singer Sam Smith has seen his star power rise greatly overseas with the success of his music, and now he’s gaining international attention with the upcoming release of his highly-anticipated album In The Lonely Hour. But just as popular as his music is the intrigue over his romantic life, especially following the recent release of his “Leave Your Lover” video, which shows him longing for a male friend who’s already taken. Now, Smith has silenced all of the rumors and come out as gay.
In a revealing interview with The Fader, Smith talks about his sexuality and reveals that his album, like his much talked about music video, was inspired by falling in love with a man who didn’t love him back.
“I’ve never been in a relationship before. I’ve only been in unrequited relationships where people haven’t loved me back. I guess I’m a little bit attracted to that in a bad way. In the Lonely Hour is about a guy that I fell in love with last year, and he didn’t love me back. I think I’m over it now, but I was in a very dark place. I kept feeling lonely in the fact that I hadn’t felt love before. I’ve felt the bad things. And what’s a more powerful emotion: pain or happiness?” he asks.
Smith explains that he told the object of his affection about his love for him. And even though he knew a relationship between them could never be, he’s hopeful that he’ll find a man who will return his love.
“I told him about it recently, and obviously it was never going to go the way I wanted it to go, because he doesn’t love me. But it was good as a form of closure, to get it off my chest and tell him. I feel better for it. I feel almost like I signed off this part of my life where I keep giving myself to guys who are never going to love me back. It feels good to have interviews like this, to chat about it and put stuff to bed. It’s all there now, and I can move on and hopefully find a guy who can love me the way I love him,” Smith explained.
Smith goes on to explain that he’s comfortable with his sexuality and although his lyrics may come from the story of his love for a man, he assures that his music, like any other artist’s, is universal.
“I am comfortable with myself, and my life is amazing in that respect. I’m very comfortable and happy with everything. I just wanted to talk about him and have it out there. It’s about a guy and that’s what I wanted people to know—I want to be clear that that’s what it’s about. I’ve been treated as normal as anyone in my life; I’ve had no issues. I do know that some people have issues in life, but I haven’t, and it’s as normal as my right arm. I want to make it a normality because this is a non-issue. People wouldn’t ask a straight person these questions,” he said.
Well, we applaud Smith on coming out and we also applaud him on making some pretty incredible music while sharing his story. – nicholas robinson
