The Non-Binary Sam Smith star took posted a topless picture saying that the sun was healing… and people are loving the positivity.
So 2020 hasn’t gotten off to a great start – with the threat of WWIII and the Australian Bush fires raging but some are finding comfort in Sam Smith’s timeline.
In a recent post, the star admitted that despite hiding their* body away from the sun, that it felt good to “have my top off on holiday
* Sam Smith uses they, them and their pronouns.
Holding what looked to be a cheeky cocktail in a bright pink glass the “How Do You Sleep” hitmaker posted a topless picture and captioned it, “Feels so good to have my top off on holiday. Spent all my life hiding my body from the sun. The last year my skin has been soaking in that LIGHT. Don’t let anyone or anything stop you from feeling that kiss from above you beautiful humans”
Feels so good to have my top off on holiday. Spent all my life hiding my body from the sun. The last year my skin has been soaking in that LIGHT. Don’t let anyone or anything stop you from feeling that kiss from above you beautiful humans 💫 pic.twitter.com/0MuOLellDA
Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has reached out to Sam Smith after using the wrong pronouns for the singer. In a tweet Piers’s referred to Sam as “he”
In his original Tweet Piers wrote, “Mr Smith came out as a gay man 5yrs ago, then as non-binary gender neutral 6 weeks ago, now he’s advertising ‘Man’s Concept Menswear’. It’s hard to keep up!”
However, Piers was called out for “misgendering” Sam Smith – with many taking exception to Piers using the pronouns “he”.
Sam Smith asked that people use “they, them and theirs”.
Piers offered an apology directly to Smith saying,
“CORRECTION: ‘their’ & ‘they’.
My sincere apologies to @samsmith for misgendering him as male after he advertised ‘Man’s Concept Menswear.’
CORRECTION: 'their' & 'they'. My sincere apologies to @samsmith for misgendering him as male after he advertised 'Man's Concept Menswear.' https://t.co/EhIfa4YT9X
However Smith’s reveal attracted a certain amount of criticism.
Taking to Instagram, the “How Do You Sleep” singer quoted, Rent writer and creator Jonathan Larson, saying, “I’m more of a man than you’ll ever be and more of a woman that you’ll ever get”.
The quote received quite a large reaction with over 1,200 comments with artist, Jeremy Kost saying, “Sam, you’re the star the world needs right now… Outrageously talented, loving yourself, and unafraid to be who you are.
People need to all be less judgmental and if they don’t like something, move on without being an as*hole”
Global star, Sam Smith has revealed that being referred to by gender netural terms such as “they, them and theirs” feels beautiful.
CREDIT: kathclick / bigstock
The “How Do You Sleep” singer, Sam Smith, has revealed on Twitter that being called “they” is much more preferable than being called “he”. The star, who came out as gay in 2014, wrote in a Tweet that being referred to in a gender-neutral – or non-binary way felt “beautiful”.
The singer was replying to a Tweet from radio and A Gay And A Non Gay podcast presenter James Barr who referred to Sam as “they” in a tweet, saying, “just interviewed @samsmith and they sounded so happy and free and more themselves than ever. it’s made me feel like the world is a good place again”
just interviewed @samsmith and they sounded so happy and free and more themselves than ever. it’s made me feel like the world is a good place again 🥰🏳️🌈 @hitsradiouk
The 27-year-old star came out as non-binary earlier this year.
According to the Sun, A “pal” who continuously misgendered the star in a statement said, “This is a decision Sam has thought long and hard about, including doing a lot of reading on up it.
“He knows that it will take some people longer than others to fully get it.
“First the request is going out to mates and then it will be passed on to the music industry too. It’s an exciting and groundbreaking time for him.”
Sam recently attended the GQ awards and wore a pair of heals to the event. Taking to Instagram, the singer wrote “Tonight I wore heels for the first time to an award show. I’ve just got home from a gorgeous evening and as I was walking to my front door I stopped and listened to my heels clonking against the floor. And I just thought ‘FUCK YES’!! There was a time where I thought I’d never ever ever be able to be myself like this in front of the industry or anyone. It feels so good and I just wanted to share that with you all, and share a picture of my GORJ Gucci heels. They’ll always be my virgin heels”
In his most revealing pictures yet, singer Sam Smith strips off to his tiny undies and does the “bloat dance”.
Bloat? What bloat? We can’t see bloat!
Sam Smith has stripped down to his undies, showcasing his very slimmed down frame and continuing on his journey to loving his body image. He encouraged his fans to join in him in doing “the bloat dance”, despite the fact that Sam, looks incredibly slim.
In a series of pictures and videos the “Stay With Me” singer, stripped to nothing but his tiny whities and danced almost nude in front of the mirror, in his most revealing pictures yet, including a rather sexy “bond girl” dance, which ended up with one selfie with the words “bond girl” emblazoned on the photo.
Blond Girl Moves: Sam Smith jokes that he looked like a bond girl with a sexy dance in his hallway.
In one post he published a selfie of himself, sitting in his bathroom, topless, and wrote, “Feeling bloated and gross after my flight so thought I’d post a mirror selfie of my sexy bloated boobies coz we are friends. Finally”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvuiHeeAmqS/
Taking time out after a flight the 26-year-old singer was clearly on a selfie roll as he posted numerous videos and pictures of him without clothes on.
Sam encouraged his followers to do the bloat dance with him, before busting some moves including a very provocative twerk!
Looking Great: Sam Smith appeared with nothing but a towel with his newly slimmed down frame.
In February Sam wrote an emotional note about his body acceptance when he uploaded his first ever topless picture saying, that he was “fighting the f**k back” and “reclaiming” his body.
He wrote, “Yesterday I decided to fight the fuck back. Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally”.
Without a doubt, Sam Smith looked great when he first came on to the scene back in 2013 and now in 2019, but he’s revealed that he’s not always been happy with his body image. In an emotional Instagram post, the singer revealed that in the past he’s “starved” himself for weeks before photoshoots – even if he was wearing just a t-shirt – only to usually take the picture down because he felt so unhappy with his image.
However, he’s now taking a stand and has uploaded a topless picture of himself standing on an idyllic beach as the sun sets, looking confident and proud.
But now the star has uploaded a topless picture saying that he was “fighting the f**k back” and “reclaiming” his body. He wrote, “Yesterday I decided to fight the fuck back. Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Btypu_iAaVt/
He then revealed how much courage it took him to take the topless picture revealing that he had received so much “body trauma” as a kid.
He then thanked the photographer, Ryan Pfluger who took the image, saying, “thank you for helping me celebrate my body AS IT IS @ryanpfluger I have never felt safer than I did with you. I’ll always be at war with this bloody mirror but this shoot and this day was a step in the right fucking direction”
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The “Stay With Me” singer Sam Smith, revealed that he’s been in surgery, getting a stye removed from his left eye after saying that he was in agony and that his eye was getting “worse and worse”.
He told fans, “Been feeling sorry for myself all day because my f**king eye is in agony and getting worse and worse”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsm9vBBHegC/
The next day the openly gay singer took to social media to share a picture of him wearing an eye patch after an operation to remove his stye.
He revealed before his op that he was “f**king scared” but joked that he was looking forward to wearing a “pirate patch”. He later added in an Instagram story that he was being dramatic and that the op only took 15 minutes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsojbmMHgOF/
After the procedure, Sam posted an Instagram story and picture of him and his eye patch, with the caption “Stye With Me” a tribute to his 2014 hit, “Stay With Me”. In his Instagram story, he wrote, “I know you’re probably sick of seeing my stye, but I don’t care. I think it’s beautiful.”
During his stay in the hospital, the singer kept fans in the loop with several Insta stories, including one of him wearing a surgical cap.
Travel expert, Ray Si takes to the roads to check out Sam Smith in Belgium in a gay travel special.
Sam Smith in concert
If music be the food of love, and travel broadens the mind, then it follows that undertaking a trip to watch a live music concert should make you lovelier and more broad-minded than you were to begin with. There seems to be logic to that, but you would probably have to ask someone with a more academic background. However, it’s a nice thought, so let’s go with it. But it takes more than nice thoughts to make all of the logistical pieces of a trip to an arena show fall into place these days, as was evident when I attempted to secure tickets for Sam Smith’s London O2 show.
Despite springing into action as soon as tickets were announced, I encountered what is becoming a regular stumbling block for gig-goers of late, in that as soon as they come up for sale, a quick scan through the box office website generally reveals that all of the best seats have been bought out by a sister site, and the prices inflated way beyond face value. This was indeed the case, and I did want to see Sam Smith live. What’s a boy to do? A scan through other available tour dates, a quick flex of the credit card to the tune of €66, and I was not only able to secure a 4th-row ticket at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp but give myself the perfect excuse for a short break in Belgium. Not that anyone really needs an excuse to head off to Belgium.
Eurostar waiting in London’s St Pancras
Okay, so in the grand scheme of things, I didn’t really save much money doing it this way, because of course, I now had to include the cost of a hotel and a Eurostar ticket, but what I did end up with was a mini holiday in another country for the price of the original London seat.
Inside the Eurostar
Any trip from the UK to Europe is best done on Eurostar, and believe me, the new trains add a whole extra level of convenience and comfort to your journey. Tickets and check-ins for the train are simplicity itself, and with spacious seats, power sockets, and entertainment (via WiFi) and a generous luggage allowance, the journey couldn’t be more enjoyable. Eurostar’s new Standard Premier is even more spacious, quiet, and has a cute meal and drinks service included.
An upgrade on your Eurostar journey
As a small celebration for getting such a good seat for the show at such a reasonable price, I thought that I’d splash out a little on accommodation and chose The Dominican hotel in central Brussels. Not only was its central location wonderfully convenient, but it is one of those hotels where you can’t help feeling a little bit special. Built on the site of a Dominican abbey, hence the name, this majestic hotel mixes utmost modernity with historical elegance and abounds with antiques and artwork from more classical times.
Inside the Dominican Lobby
Inside the Dominican Bedroom
There are plenty of options to eat in at The Dominican, but with such a short time to fit in as many new experiences as possible, I wasted no time in finding a great little restaurant in the guise of the wonderfully named Ricotta and Parmesan. Cheesy in name perhaps, but anything but cheesy in nature. It’s actually a wonderful Italian eatery, a blend of traditional flavours served in modern ways, although having mussels on the menu this far from the sea is odd, though it does allow diners to crack a Jean-Claude Van Damme joke or two.
Although Antwerp and Brussels are only an hour apart, to save having to fight through all the other gig goers jostling to get to the same station after the show, I thought it best to book something more convenient for apres-gig accommodation, and the B-aparthotel Moretus was the perfect combination of comfort and practicality. Not for me a fight through the madding crowds just to experience standing room only in a full to the brim train.
And of course, the reason for this trip was to take in the bruised balladry of Sam Smith, no longer the new kid on the block but musically seeming like an old soul, wise beyond his years, and walking a fine line between the melancholic and confessional, and more upbeat and soulful musical waters. And with this current tour spread out across the world right through to the end of the year, my little adventure just goes to show that you don’t have to play the ticket touts’ game, and with a bit of planning, you can use the live show as the jewel in the crown of a fantastic short break.
The Brits are here, queer and releasing music by the millions…
Which gay British artist has sold the most records?
From Sam Smith to Elton, Freddie Mercury to Will Young but which are the biggest sellers? We collated this list from available sales figures available online. Actual sales figures may be higher or lower than printed here.
Joe McElderry <1 million
X Factor’s Joe’s debut single, a version of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” went on to sell over 800,000 copies in the UK. Like another constituent of this list, Joe’s sexuality was unknown during his time on the talent show which made him famous.
Pet Shop Boys 1 million (at least)
“Always On My Mind” ending up selling over 1 million records for LGBT+ identifying duo Pet Shop Boys. It’s the biggest selling single of their career.
Callum Scott 1.363 million
Relatively unknown and newcomer Callum Scott managed to secure a million-selling single with “Dancing On My Own”. Released in 2017.
Will Young 1.7 million
When Will won the first ever Pop Idol nobody actually knew he was gay, until the very next day when there was a huge splash across the tabloids. His debut single, “Evergreen” / “Anything Is Possible” went on to sell a huge 1.7 million records
Boy George / Culture Club 5 million
Culture Club, fronted by Boy George sold a whopping 5 million records globally with their song “Karma Chameleon”. The song was released in 1983 and became a huge disco hit for the group.
George Michael 6 million
George’s biggest selling record to date is “Careless Whisper”, which he released after splitting from WHAM! The song was a huge world-wide hit for the singer. It went to number 1 in 25 countries selling over 6 million singles. His most charted song is “Last Christmas” (2 million copies and counting) which reenters the top 10 almost every Christmas. It’s the biggest selling song to never get to number 1.
Freddie Mercury / Queen 8 million
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the biggest selling singles (and apparently the most expensive ever made) of all time and it was written by Freddie Mercury. During his life, Freddie admitted his sexuality fears to his ex-girlfriend, apparently, that he didn’t know whether he was gay or straight.
Sam Smith 8 million
Sam Smith’s is the second newest artist on our list after Calum Scott, but he’s already racked up 6 number ones, including, incredible the only number 1 song for a Bond film. The song “Stay With Me” has sold over 8 million copies (digital).
David Bowie 10 million
It’s impossible to know how exactly how many copies of “Let’s Dance” David Bowie sold, but the album with the same name sold 10 million copies when it was released in 1983, making it his best selling album and single of all time. Note: David Bowie never identified as gay, but his sexuality was often considered to be bisexual.
Elton John 33 million
The granddaddy of music, Elton John has sold millions and millions of records. His biggest-ever seller single was the 1997 tribute to Diana Princess Of Wales, “Candle In The Wind”. It apparently sold over 33 million singles. It has a double A-side – the other song was “The Way You Look Tonight”.
** UPDATE: A previous version incorrectly labelled David Bowie’s track “Let’s Dance”, “Just Dance” and has been corrected.
Lately, there’s been a boom in music from LGBT artists and as acceptance of gay people grows and grows worldwide we look to see who are the names you need to be looking out for in 2017.
CREDIT: Kenny Rials
Sponsored by
Kenny Rials
Broadway star (yes he starred in Hedwig And The Angry Inch) turned recording artist, Louisiana native, turned full-on Brit, Kenny Rials (photo above) has a brand new album out called Second Chances, which is a follow-up to his debut EP, Time Doesn’t Stand Still, which featured the club smash “Not Yet, Someday”. Kenny is a strong advocate for anti-bullying and his latest album contains the self-penned anti-bullying anthem, “It Never Rains Forever”. Speaking about his experience with bullying the star revealed, “I kept my head down and tried to be invisible. In my lyrics, I ask those still being tormented to please hold on, it will be our time to shine soon”. He’ll be touring the UK and USA in 2017 check out date and more info at his website.
Adam Lambert
Adam released a brand new song “Welcome To The Show” in July which amassed over 8 million streams on Spotify and nearly 2 million views on YouTube. Well, it hints that perhaps there will be a new album for 2017. His last album The Original High was released in 2015 so it’s about time there was a new one.
Sam Smith
CREDIT: kathclick / bigstock
Surprisingly Sam Smith, despite his huge worldwide success, has actually only released one album and okay it is a whopper having shipped over 6.5 million units, but that was in 2014. So will Sam be releasing new music in 2017? The star revealed that he was going deeper than ever for the next one, saying, “Every day I’m having little epiphanies and changes and loving it. But all I can say is that I’m putting my heart even more out on the (expletive) line. I’m going even deeper. I can’t believe I’m even doing it, but I’m going even deeper.”
Steve Grand
CREDIT: Steve Grand / Instagram
Steve Grand is as famous for his shirtless crowdfunding of albums as he is for his actual music. His last album All American Boy was in 2015 so 2017 could be the year for new music from the star, which he hinted at could be on the way soon with the release of a duet, “Look Away” released in March. Bring it on Stevie.
Joe McElderry
Credit Mark Yeoman
Joe’s recorded music career has been quiet of late, having not released anything since 2012’s Here’s What I Believe which reached number 8 in the UK. Joe will be back on the road with Joseph And The Technicolour Dreamcoat in January. There are dates planned for Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
Danyl Johnson
CREDIT: Monty McKinnen / THEGAYUK
Danyl has been working on some new music and you should expect more music in 2017. Speaking to THEGAYUK earlier in the year Danyl revealed since his time on the X Factor that he had travelled to Nashville, USA, to work on material with some great, talented songwriters.
Sponsored by Kenny Rials. Produced by THEGAYUK editorial team.
2016 has been a year that will go down in history as one of the most seismic of all time. From the election of Donald Trump to the UK voting to leave the EU, from the Pulse nightclub massacre to the continued persecution of gay men by ISIS.
There have been many stories that have and will continue to impact the gay community for decades to come. Here’s are just some of the top stories from the past 12 months.
January
David Bowie dies. The year starts with the unexpected death of David Bowie. 2016 would go down as one of the most shocking years for celebrity deaths.
Milo Yiannopoulos is unverified by Twitter. The controversial right-wing commentator is unverified by Twitter. He would later be kicked off the platform altogether in a move many praised but other criticised Twitter for kerbing freedom of speech.
ISIS executes 15-year-old boy. He was murdered for an alleged affair with an ISIS officer. The officer was spared the death sentence.
British LGBT Awards gets a bashing on Twitter. The motives behind the awards were questioned by some after a number of “strange” choices for nominees were revealed including YouTuber Zoella, and Zayn for being allies.
