Sam Smith’s debut album In The Lonely Hour has been certified Platinum by the RIAA, following Multi-Platinum (4X) certification for his debut single, “Stay With Me,” and his current Platinum smash, “I’m Not The Only One.” In addition to In the Lonely Hour selling more than one million copies by the traditional measures of physical and download album sales, it has sold an additional one million when factoring in the newer metrics of track- and stream-equivalent albums (as computed by Nielsen SoundScan).
Smith is the recent recipient of six Grammy Award nominations, including Album Of The Year for In The Lonely Hour, Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for “Stay With Me,” and Best New Artist. He also received nominations in the categories of Best Pop Vocal Album (In The Lonely Hour) and Best Pop Solo Performance (“Stay With Me”). Smith is the first male artist in 34 years, and the first male artist ever – to earn nominations in the “Big Four” General Field Grammy categories following the release of a debut album.
Other recent accolades for Smith include his being named iTunes Best New Artist of 2014, MTV selecting him as its number one artist of the year (Best Artist on its year-end “Best Of 2014” Top 10 lists), and “Stay With Me” earning the #1 slot on Amazon’s Best 50 Songs of 2014.
The 22-year-old artist paid tribute to Frank Sinatra with a stunning performance of the legendary singer’s Capitol Records classic “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” on “A Very GRAMMY Christmas,” a one-hour entertainment special that aired earlier this month on CBS. Smith’s rendition, which was delivered on the rooftop of Capitol Records’ historic Hollywood tower, is available now at all digital partners.
Smith made chart history in the U.S. with In The Lonely Hour, which sold more copies in its first week of release than any other U.K. male artist debut in the 23-year history of SoundScan. It entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2 and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The Associated Press hailed it as “a passionate, heart-wrenching album” and The Washington Post observed, "‘In the Lonely Hour’ shows off every facet of Smith's voice to goose pimple-raising effect."
Over the course of 2014, Smith has won the BRIT Critics’ Choice award, the BBC Sound of 2014 prize, Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock honors at the American Music Awards, a Q award, four MOBOs and the VH1 2014 You Oughta Know Artist Of The Year award. He will return to the U.S. in January 2015 for his third North American headline tour in less than a year. The arena and theatre run includes a concert at Madison Square Garden and a two-night stand The Forum in Los Angeles.
Most importantly, of course, Smith will appear at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on January 9, 2015, and the following evening, January 10, he will perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville! For more information, visit the Opry's website.