Sam Smith Vents On LGBT Rights

Sam Smith Dominates 2015 Grammys

Tonight was the Sam Smith Show at the Grammys:

The Grammys stayed with Sam Smith throughout the 57th awards show Sunday in Los Angeles. "Thank you all for the best night of my life" remarked a grateful Smith as he took home four top awards: best new artist, song of the year and record of the year for Stay With Me, and best pop vocal album for In the Lonely Hour. "Before I made this record I was doing everything to try and get my music heard," Smith said. "I tried to lose weight and I was making awful music. It was only until I started to be myself that the music started to flow and people started to listen."

When Smith picked up his fourth award, he quipped, "I just want to thank the man that inspired me to write this record. You broke my heart and now I’ve got four Grammys." Beyonce picked up another three Grammys, moving her ahead of Aretha Franklin to second place on the all-time list for female artists. The full list of 2015 Grammy winners is here.

Sam Smith Video Features Gay Wedding Filmed At Anglican Church In London

Via Rolling Stone:

Grammy nominee and Rolling Stone cover star Sam Smith unveiled the video for his new single "Lay Me Down," the latest track off his platinum-selling debut album In the Lonely Hour. The video, filmed at the parish church of St. Margaret, Lee outside London and directed by Ryan Hope, finds Smith performing his ballad in front of what appears to be a mournful funeral but turns out to be a joyous gay marriage, a controversial situation given the United Kingdom's (and The Church's) stand on same-sex marriages. Rolling Stone was on set with Smith as the singer talked about the message behind the video. "Obviously gay marriage isn't legal in churches, and we're doing a gay marriage today, in the church. We're the first ever to do it. It's obviously not a real marriage, but still," Smith tells Rolling Stone from the set. "The priest just said to us, 'We're going against the rules by doing this today,' which I thought was a lovely element in the video.

Smith writes at his YouTube channel:

This song holds a very dear place in my heart. With this video myself and Ryan Hope the director have decided to make a statement and showcase something we passionately believe in. This video shows my dreams that one day gay men and women and transgendered men and women all over the world, like all our straight families and friends, will be able to get married under any roof, in any city, in any town, in any village, in any country. I hope you enjoy it. I love you all, x.

Lovely track, gorgeous clip. I think Rolling Stone might be wrong, it seems like the wedding part is a flashback to before the funeral. UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter is wondering too.

Pop Stars Unite For Queen Cover

Posted last night to the Tonight Show's YouTube channel: "In honor of the Super Bowl, Jimmy and the Roots join Carrie Underwood, Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, Blake Shelton, Usher, Meghan Trainor, One Direction, and Christina Aguilera for an a cappella version of We Are The Champions."

Tom Petty: No Lawsuit, No Hard Feelings

"About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement. The word lawsuit was never even said and was never my intention. And no more was to be said about it. How it got out to the press is beyond Sam or myself. Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. A musical accident, no more no less. In these times we live in this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all." - Tom Petty, swatting down rumors that he'd been forced to sue gay crooner Sam Smith for the song-writing royalties to his Grammy-nominated single Stay With Me.

Sam Smith Agrees To Pay Royalites To Tom Petty On Grammy-Nominated Hit

Via Stereogum:

Tom Petty has been awarded a songwriting credit on Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” which bears a close resemblance to Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” According to The Sun, the deal was settled out of court back in October, but is just coming to light now. Both Petty and singer/composer Jeff Lynne were given a 12.5% writing credit. The song’s full writing credit now lists Smith, Petty, Lynne, and Jimmy Napes as the songwriters. “When Sam’s track was originally released, it was clear to a lot of musicians that there were notable similarities between the tracks,” a source told NME. “After it was pointed out to Sam’s camp, they didn’t try to fight it and amicably dished out royalties. It wasn’t a deliberate thing, musicians are just inspired by other artists and Sam and his team were quick to hold up their hand when it was officially flagged.”

For his part, Petty has said that he considers lawsuits in such situations, well, petty, once declaring that he'd only consider suing if someone "maliciously" stole one his songs note-for-note. In cases of "inspirational" copying, as seems be the situation with Sam Smith, Petty's attitude is "OK, good for you."

RELATED: Billboard reports that Petty isn't eligible to share Smith's possible Grammy.

"Since Lynne and Petty didn't do any new writing for this work, we are considering their original work to have been interpolated by Napier, Phillips and Smith for 'Stay With Me,'" says Bill Freimuth, the Recording Academy's senior vice president, awards. "Lynne and Petty will not be considered nominees nor will they be considered Grammy recipients, should the song win. Rather, they would be given certificates to honor their participation in the work, just as any other writers of sampled or interpolated work."

Sam Smith Goes Platinum

Sam Smith today became this year's only artist to sell one million albums in both the UK and the United States. Smith is only the second artist to hit platinum status in the US this year, following Taylor Swift's 1989. The multi-artist soundtrack for Disney's Frozen is the year's biggest domestic seller with 3.4M copies.

Sam Smith - Like I Can

Tweet Of The Day - Sam Smith

For the first time ever, Grammy nominations were not announced all at once today and instead they've been trickling out on Twitter since early morning. So far gay crooner Sam Smith has in fact been nominated for five Grammys including Best New Artist, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year. The nominations for Album Of The Year, for which Smith is considered a lock, will be announced tonight on CBS at 9PM. See the rest of this year's nominations here.

UPDATE:  Other gays with Grammy nominations.

Principal soloist Harris scored a nod in the Best Musical Theater Album category for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It will compete with Aladdin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder and West Side Story. Cheyenne Jackson is one of the principal soloists nominated for the West Side Story album. Filmmaker John Waters of Hairspray fame is nominated in the Best Spoken Word Album category for the audio version of his book Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. Waters has competition from a beloved gay icon, Joan Rivers, who died in September at the age of 81. Rivers is nominated for her audio of her best seller Diary of a Mad Diva.

Band Aid 30 - Do They Know It's Christmas

The third remake of the 1984 charity single Do They Know It's Christmas debuted on British television last night. Via the Guardian:

The more cynical might suggest that in the age of twitchforkings and twitterstorms, when it sometimes seems that no pop cultural event can pass without someone somewhere forensically examining it in the hope of find something they can take offence at, might account for the fact that the song’s lyrics have been rewritten, not merely to accommodate the Ebola epidemic but also to remove the kind of lyrics that people might describe as problematic: “tonight thank God it’s them instead of you” is gone. The generalisation that nothing ever grows in Africa has likewise vanished. Meanwhile, anyone keen to sound the clanging chimes of doom for pop music – or at the very least, looking for evidence of its waning grip on teenagers’ imaginations – might note that three of the vocalists aren’t actually musicians. They are “internet personalities” Zoe “Zoella” Sugg, her brother Joe “Thatcherjoe” Sugg and Alfie Deyes, the last justly famous as joint holder of the world record for the most number of bangles put on by two people in 30 seconds.

The original version is one of the top twenty greatest selling singles in history. The 1989 version (produced by disco kingpins Stock, Aitken & Waterman) and the 2004 version both reached #1 on the British pop chart.

COVERS: The 2014 Out 100

BRITAIN: Pop Music Stars Perform Beach Boys Classic God Only Knows

With a cast of new performers, the BBC has restaged its 1997 star-studded take on the Beach Boys classic, God Only Knows. Via the Guardian:

As in 1997, the BBC has succeeded in gathering together a fairly staggering array of stars. Joining Brian Wilson, the song’s writer, are Sir Elton John, One Direction, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams. Jake Bugg, Lorde, Emeli Sandé, Chris Martin, Kylie Minogue, Paloma Faith, Sam Smith, Florence Welch, Chrissie Hynde, Brian May, Dave Grohl, Alison Balsom, Martin James Bartlett, Danielle de Niese, Nicola Benedetti, Eliza Carthy, Baaba Maal, Jamie Cullum, Jaz Dhami, as well as the BBC’s Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne, Katie Derham, Gareth Malone and Jools Holland. They are joined by the Tees Valley Youth Choir and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Sir Elton John is the only survivor from Perfect Day. The song is accompanied by a lavish video filmed at the disused Alexandra Palace Theatre in London, which hosted the first BBC broadcast more than 90 years ago.

(Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

Sam Smith - Restart

Disclosure & Sam Smith - Latch

Latch was released two years ago in the UK where it reached #11 on the pop chart. This week it rises to #7 on Billboard's US Hot 100 pop singles chart and remains at #1 on the US dance/electronic chart. Disclosure, who say they take their influences from legendary gay nightclubs like the Paradise Garage, play San Francisco's Outside Lands Music Festival this weekend.

(Via Towleroad)

Sam Smith - How Will I Know

Recently out British crooner Sam Smith covered Whitney Houston during his performance at SiriusXM yesterday.

Sam Smith - Stay With Me

Stereogum reviews:

The British soul singer and Disclosure collaborator Sam Smith has already topped the UK’s singles chart with “Money On My Mind,” and he’s the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend. But for a star on the rise, Smith isn’t exactly crackling with electric charisma. Instead, he’s a slightly schlubby Rick Astley type with a fantastic haircut, and therein his charm lies.

Smith, 21, has done lots of gay press in Britain, but so far has left fans to speculate about his sexuality.