Sam Smith: 'I Want to Be a Figure in the Gay Community' Because 'I Sell Records in Countries Where Gay Men Get Killed'

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Update: In September 2019, Sam Smith announced that they use they/them pronouns. This content was written in October 2015 before Smith publicly announced their pronouns.

Sam Smith is setting the record straight.

The “Stay With Me” singer opened up in the new issue of NME about using his celebrity to be an advocate for the LGBT community.

“I want to be a spokesperson. I want to be a figure in the gay community, who speaks for gay men. I sell records in countries where gay men get killed and that’s a big thing for me because maybe one person in that country will pick up my album, realize it’s by a gay artist, and it might change their opinion,” Smith, 23, told the music magazine.

The Grammy winner shared this sentiment to clarify comments he made last year: The breakout Brit came under fire when he told Digital Spy, “I’m not trying to be a spokesperson … I’m really just trying to live my life and write music about it.”

The singer explained his previous comments to NME, saying he meant he didn’t want to be pigeonholed in the industry and that he’s proud of his sexuality.

“I’m a gay man who came out when I was 10 years old, and there’s nothing in my life that I’m prouder of,” Smith added to NME. “What I was trying to say was that I didn’t want the album to appeal to just one community, I wanted it to appeal to all of them. I wanted anyone, gay or straight, to be able to relate to me singing about men, like I was able to relate to Stevie Wonder or John Legend singing about girls.”