ÍøÆغÚÁÏ

Shooting from obscurity to fame as the featured artist on Disclosure's "Latch" in 2012, a global smash hit that showcased their distinctively stirring high tenor, Sam Smith has since become one of pop's most prominent balladeers. Taking cues from soul belters like Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan, followers such as Amy Winehouse and Adele, and their own church upbringing, Smith effectively arrived as a headliner with 2014's In the Lonely Hour. Multi-platinum in the singer's native U.K. and the U.S., the album also garnered Best New Artist and three additional Grammys among a slew of accolades. Smith followed up with 2017's The Thrill of It All, a heartsick album favoring Southern soul and gospel, and by the end of the 2010s had accumulated six number one U.K. singles as a headliner: "Money on My Mind," "Stay with Me," and "Lay Me Down," followed by the Academy Award-winning James Bond theme "Writing's on the Wall," "Too Good at Goodbyes," and the Calvin Harris collaboration "Promises." The singer entered the next decade with a handful of additional Top 20 U.K. singles that led to 2020's Love Goes, followed by the Grammy-winning "Unholy" and its parent album, 2023's Gloria.

Before their commercial breakthrough at the age of 21, the London-born singer and songwriter balanced their studies and music, sang in choirs and in bands, and performed in musical theater productions. They developed a passionate approach to singing inspired by their Catholic upbringing and numerous soul legends, and in the late 2000s headlined a couple low-profile independent singles, "Bad Day All Week" and "When It's Alright." Smith was barely out of their teens when, in late 2012, they reached a much larger audience as the featured vocalist on Disclosure's "Latch." A powerful and loping mixture of U.K. garage and contemporary dance-pop, the song went to number 11 in the U.K., where it also went platinum. Over in the U.S., it took significantly longer to take hold, but eventually hit number seven there and was certified platinum three times over.

The singer's first major-label solo single, released in February 2013, went in a more adult contemporary direction. Produced by Jimmy Napes and Steve Fitzmaurice, "Lay Me Down" recalled the pared-down ballads that had proved successful for Adele, another artist Smith admired. Only three months later, producer/songwriter Shahid "Naughty Boy" Khan followed his Emeli Sandé-fronted U.K. Top Ten hit "Wonder" with "La La La," featuring a lead vocal from Smith (who had just finished a series of dates in support of Sandé). It was an instant number one U.K. hit and reached number 19 in the States. That October, Smith issued the Nirvana EP, which included "Lay Me Down" and an acoustic version of "Latch."

By the end of February 2014, they were back on top of the U.K. chart with "Money on My Mind," a single marrying their relaxed vocal with a frenetic production from Two Inch Punch. Smith's debut long-player, In the Lonely Hour, followed that May in the U.K., and topped the album chart. It arrived in the U.S. the following month and peaked at number two there. The singles "Stay with Me," "I'm Not the Only One," and "Lay Me Down" hit the Top Ten in both the U.K. and U.S. The number two seller of 2014 in the U.K. and U.S., behind only respective LPs by Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, In the Lonely Hour led to awards from organizations as varied as the BRITs, Billboard, BET, and the Recording Academy. Smith almost swept the "big four" Grammy categories by winning Best New Artist, as well as Song of the Year and Record of the Year, the latter two for the Darkchild version of "Stay with Me," produced by Rodney Jerkins. In the Lonely Hour didn't win Album of the Year, but it did take the award for Best Pop Vocal Album.

In 2015, Smith recorded another Disclosure collaboration, "Omen," eventually placed on the production duo's Caracal. Smith also earned the honor of being chosen to record the theme for a James Bond film. "Writing's on the Wall," recorded for Spectre, was the first Bond theme to go to number one in the U.K. An expanded version of In the Lonely Hour, the "Drowning Shadows Edition," was released that November with new material and previously released stray tracks added to the original album.

Following Golden Globe and Academy Award wins for "Writing's on the Wall," Smith spent most of 2016 and early 2017 in the studio recording their follow-up album with previous collaborators Jimmy Napes and Steve Fitzmaurice. "Too Good at Goodbyes," the lead single from Smith's second album, was issued in September 2017. The ballad went to number one in the U.K. and the Top Five in the U.S. just before its parent release, The Thrill of It All, entered the U.K. and U.S. charts at number one.

The promotional campaign wound down the next year, and Smith continued with singles across the remainder of 2018 and into 2019. These included three more Top Ten U.K. hits: the chart-topping Calvin Harris collaboration "Promises," the Normani duet "Dancing with a Stranger" (also Top Ten U.S.), and "How Do You Sleep?" Strides toward Smith's third album continued in 2020 with "To Die For," which peaked in the U.K. at number 18. Preceded by a couple of additional Top 20 entries -- "I'm Ready" featuring Demi Lovato and "Diamonds" -- Love Goes arrived that October, reaching number two in the U.K. and hitting number five on the Billboard 200.

Determining to not make another album filled with romantic sorrow, Smith designed Gloria, their fourth full-length, as a wider-scoped affair both lyrically and sonically. Lead single "Love Me More" arrived in April 2022, and was followed five months later by "Unholy," a slinking collaboration with Kim Petras that Smith produced with Jimmy Napes, Cirkut, Ilya, Blake Slatkin, and Omer Fedi. Shortly after the release of "Unholy," Smith performed at London's Royal Albert Hall and included their new song in the set (excerpted for the Live from the Royal Albert Hall EP). "Unholy" topped the U.K. and U.S. pop charts and, just weeks after Gloria's January 2023 release, earned Smith and Petras the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. ~ Andy Kellman & James Wilkinson

All-around entertainer Normani combines R&B, pop, and dance music with a strong personality that shines through whether she's solo or featuring artists ranging from sensitive fellow singer/songwriters to tough rappers. She gained fame in the early 2010s as a member of the platinum pop group Fifth Harmony. Hits scored with Khalid (the Top Ten single "Love Lies"), Sam Smith (U.K. Top Three "Dancing with a Stranger"), and Calvin Harris ("Checklist") quickly established her outside the group, and she capped the 2010s unassisted with the boisterous Top 40 pop hit "Motivation." Collaborations with Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, and ballads such as "Fair" and "1:59," preceded the arrival of Dopamine (2024), Normani's long-awaited first solo album.

Born in Atlanta, Normani Kordei Hamilton was raised in New Orleans until 2005, when Hurricane Katrina prompted her family to move to Houston. Normani had been performing for several years when, in 2012, she competed on the second season of The X Factor USA, which led to the formation of Fifth Harmony. The group's albums Reflection (2015), 7/27 (2016), and Fifth Harmony (2017) all debuted within the Top Ten, and the first two went platinum, making them one of the biggest pop acts of the 2010s. The year the self-titled album was released, Normani also appeared in the video for Khalid's "Young Dumb & Broke." Shortly thereafter, Khalid and Normani co-wrote and recorded the pop-R&B ballad "Love Lies" for the soundtrack of Love, Simon. Released on RCA in February 2018, the song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 four months later at number nine. Normani rounded out the year appearing on tracks by Quavo ("Swing") and Jessie Reyez (the "Body Count" remix), as well as issuing a collaborative two-song EP with Calvin Harris, simply titled Normani x Calvin Harris.

In the midst of preparing her solo debut album, Normani released another hit duet, this time with Sam Smith. Produced by Jimmy Napes and Stargate, "Dancing with a Stranger" rose into the Top Three in the U.K. The stand-alone single "Motivation" arrived in August 2019, cracking the U.K. Top 30 and landing at number 33 pop in the U.S. (number nine on the Dance Club Songs chart). She then paired with Megan Thee Stallion for "Diamonds," off the 2020 Birds of Prey soundtrack, and released 2021's "Wild Side" featuring Cardi B, which hit number 14 on the pop chart. "Fair," followed by "New to You" (a collaboration with Calvin Harris, Tinashe, and Offset), arrived in 2022, though it wasn't until 2024 that Normani issued her debut LP, Dopamine. ~ Andy Kellman