Ahead of the release of their fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes, on Friday, Sam Smith is giving Madonna her flowers for supporting them on stage, in studio and behind the scenes.
"Madonna is my mother," Smith said in an interview on Apple Music's The Zane Lowe Show. "She's just unfuckingreal."
Smith told Zane Lowe how the iconic singer and actress not only influenced their career, but revealed that the Queen of Pop herself personally reached out amid the controversy surrounding their 2022 Grammy-winning hit, "Unholy," with Kim Petras, that famously hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"The minute it happened, she made sure she got through to me," Smith said, who said Madonna's music has always been "a lifeline," to them and supportive of the wider LGBTQ+ community. "You feel that in her music."
That kind of support was evident on stage at the 2023 Grammy Awards, when Madonna introduced Smith and Petras’ performance of "Unholy." She named Smith and Petras as artists who had risen above criticism and controversy.
"I'm here to give thanks to all the rebels out there forging a new path and taking the heat for all of it. You guys need to know — all you troublemakers out there — you need to know that your fearlessness doesn't go unnoticed. You are seen, you are heard; and most of all, you are appreciated," Madonna said. "So now, speaking of controversy, it gives me great pleasure to introduce two incredibly talented artists who have risen above the noise, the doubt, the critics; into something beautifully unholy."
Smith and Petras dressed in red latex and devil horns as they performed the song that eventually won them the Grammy for Best Pop Duo / Group Performance, instantly making them the targets of harassment by right-wing trolls. Conservatives denounced their performance as "evil" and "satanic," as The Advocate reported.
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Days after the awards show, Smith was verbally assaulted by homophobes and transphobes while they enjoyed a walk in New York City's Central Park. One woman who screamed at Smith was far-right conspiracy theorist Marie Kiernan, who called them a "groomer."
Months later, Madonna showed that support extended to the studio when she collaborated with Smith on "Vulgar," released just in time for Pride.
"You know you’re beautiful when they call you vulgar," Smith sang. "I do what I wanna, I go when I gotta / I’m sexy, I’m free, and I feel, uh, Vulgar." Madonna then sings, "Vulgar is beautiful, filthy, and gorgeous / Vulgar will make you dance, don’t need a chorus. Say we're ridiculous, we'll just go harder / Mad and meticulous, Sam and Madonna."
"She’s so aware of queer news and what’s happening in the community, to the artists within the community," Smith told the Apple Music host. "Her music is a lifeline to queer people and just all of the eras of her and her stamina and how she’s just always carried on and on and on. I just find it very inspiring."
Smith's new record represents a new chapter for the singer/songwriter, who describes Hazel Eyes as a more intimate and personal body of work centered on love, identity and artistic freedom. It drops Friday, August 21.
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