Sam Smith Says They’ve ‘Always’ Been Non-Binary’: ‘I Just Found the Vocabulary For That’

Sam Smith says they’ve always been non-binary — but just needed the “vocabulary for that.” The British singer shared that they’re “fully out of the closet,” calling it a “really freeing thing.”

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Sam Smith says they’ve always identified as non-binary but only found the vocabulary for it at age 27

Smith reflects on the challenges of fame, industry pressures and self-discovery after the success of their 2014 debut album

Their new album, Hazel Eyes, is inspired by love, including their fiancée and a mentor who shaped their journey

Sam Smith says they’ve always been non-binary — but just needed the “vocabulary for that.”

“I was one of the first queer people who was out from the beginning of my career,” the “I’m Not the Only One” singer, 34, told Zane Lowe during a candid interview with Apple Music released on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Smith shared that albums that followed the success of their 2014 debut, In the Lonely Hour — which featured the hit “Stay with Me” — were “recovery, and trying to figure out who I was and what I was meant to say.”

Following that breakthrough album, Smith shared that it was a struggle “dealing with the pressures from the industry, which are loud, and trying to deal with that. And then also trying to appease the audience and then also dealing with the life change that comes with becoming famous at 21 years old.”

Apple Music / The Zane Lowe Show

In 2019, Smith, then 27, came out as non-binary, and changed their pronouns to they/them. But as the “Unholy” singer told Lowe, “the whole time from In the Lonely Hour on — like, I’ve always been non-binary. It’s always been who I am.”

They continued, “I just found the vocabulary for that when I was, like, 27. So that was another coming out experience. And finally, here we are — and I’m fully out the closet,” Smith added with a chuckle.

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“There’s no more coming out for me now, which is a really freeing thing,” they continued.

Smith went on to share that that mentality is present in their new album, Hazel Eyes, saying, “It’s a record that is made with love. There is love woven through the whole thing.”

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While fiancée Christian Cowan is “a huge part of that,” Smith shared that it was largely influenced by musician and collaborator Simon Aldred, whom they called “the first ever gay man that I ever met within the music industry at 20 years old.”

“It was nice to just take a minute to step away from the rules and just sing my heart out,” Smith said. “It was just free singing the whole time.”

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