Sam Smith's reclaimed the No. 1 spot on the British charts this week with "I'm Not The Only One," and the singer celebrated by adding a run of UK dates to his 2015 tour schedule.
Thanks to the success of his debut album, In The Lonely Hour, Smith has quickly become a British pop icon, and the proof is in his gig list — He's still got dozens of shows to play before the New Year, and every single one is sold out.
The singer recently sat down with NME to discuss the creative process behind his ubiquitous hit "Stay With Me."
As previously reported:
Along with two collaborators, Smith said it only took about 30 to 40 minutes to write what would become a tune that has been at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 for more than 20 weeks. "The song just flowed out of us so naturally," Smith said.
After the first few takes, though, the crew wasn't satisfied with what they had. That's when Smith had the idea that would take the song to the next level. In a large recording area, Smith went to different parts of the room and sung the "stay with me" and "all I need" lines, layering his vocals each time.
"I layered my voice probably about 20 times," Smith explained. "I stood in different parts around the room and would layer my voice more and more and more, harmonizing and that kind of stuff."
Smith also recently opened up about his sexuality and helped Mary J. Blige cut her London Sessions LP.
Here are his 2015 tour dates that are still available via pre-sale:
03/01: Brussels, Belgium @ Forest National
03/02: Amsterdam, Holland @ Heineken Music Hall
03/04: Munich, Germany @ Kesselhaus
03/05: Cologne, Germany @ Palladium
03/07: Offenbach, Germany @ Capitol
03/09: Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz Club
03/10: Zurich, Switzerland @ X-Tra
03/16: Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
03/17: Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
03/19: Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
03/20: Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
03/22: Wolverhampton, UK @ Civic Hall
03/23: Wolverhampton, UK @ Civic Hall
03/25: London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
03/26: London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
04/23: Auckland, New Zealand @ Vector Arena
04/25: Brisbane, Australia @ Riverstage
04/27: Sydney, Australia @ Hordern Pavilion
04/30: Melbourne, Australia @ Margaret Court Arena
05/01: Adelaide, Australia @ AEC Theatre
05/04: Perth, Australia @ HBF Stadium
06/18: Paris, France @ Olympia
After playing the iTunes festival on Tuesday, Smith also has several sold-out American dates lined up - in fact, his shows are sold out until that run of pre-sale shows (shown above) begins. Check out his full schedule here.
