Sam Smith Reveals What Led to Them Embracing Being Nonbinary

Sam Smith is opening up about realizing they identify as nonbinary.

During a conversation with Billboard about the song “Dancing With a Stranger,” they credited working on that song as launching them “into a really beautiful space of writing and freedom.”

“There’s a femininity within that song that has ignited a flame within me; it triggered the transition I’ve made into a nonbinary person,” Smith said.

The collab with former Fifth Harmony singer Normani has been bouncing around the airwaves since January of this year, two months before Smith came out as nonbinary.

“I had just gone through a breakup and the last thing I wanted to do was write a sad song,” they said of the writing process. “I was listening to a lot of really sexy music because it made me feel better, so I wanted the song to capture what I was doing: going to clubs and kissing people.”

The singer’s revelation that they identify as nonbinary and genderqueer came during an interview with The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil back in March. At the time, they said that they didn’t consider themselves either male or female, but rather they “float somewhere in between—somewhat on the spectrum.”

It wasn’t until September that Smith opted to announce to the world that they are now using they/them pronouns. A moving Instagram post mentioned that they had always been “at war” with their gender and finally decided to no longer give any fucks about what other people think.

“There was something blocking me when I was writing my last album because I felt like I was playing this ‘Sam Smith’ character that I created,” they later told Out. “I feel my music suffered. I think people can hear that.”

But not anymore. They continued: “As soon as I came out with ‘Promises’ and ‘Dancing With a Stranger,’ I started playing. I started having fun. I started being myself. My art has become truer and more honest after coming to peace with being nonbinary.”