Sam Smith Opens Up About Sexuality in Fader Cover Story

Since breaking onto the music scene as a featured vocalist on Disclosure's 'Latch,' Sam Smith has been making huge strides. With his debut LP, 'In the Lonely Hour,' releasing this week, at only 22, this British R&B singer has mended broken hearts and crafted an album that grabs fans the way Adele's '22' did a few years ago.

With vocals he said were inspired by listening to Whitney Houston, Smith's ballads have sparked some interest on who these songs were inspired by. And the U.K. breakout opens up about his personal life in the upcoming issue of Fader.

"'In the Lonely Hour' is about a guy that I fell in love with last year, and he didn’t love me back," he tells Fader for its 'Summer Music' issue. "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?"

And when asked whether or not the object of his unrequited love knows about it, he said, "He does. 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."

While some may grab the Kleenex and tear up at Smith's journey through love, he does address why he's only come out so publicly now, saying that this would be a "non-issue" for straight people.

"I am comfortable with myself, and my life is amazing in that respect," he explained. "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."

Although he knows officially coming out will become another issue that will be tacked onto, his every intent is to focus on his art. "That’s why I make the music I make. I want to make the music that’s not there anymore," he reveals. "I’m so passionate about the singing voice. I genuinely feel like there’s a snobbery in the industry where people feel like playing an instrument makes you a better songwriter or musician. What I’m trying to do actually with my album is show that it’s my voice that’s leading. It’s my voice that’s the instrument."

Read the rest of Fader's cover story on Sam Smith here.