Sam Smith has made U.S. pop music history with his debut album, In The Lonely Hour, selling more copies in its first week of release – 166,000 – than any other debut album by a UK male artist in the 23-year history of Soundscan. The Capitol Records album will enter the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart next week at #2, propelled by the artist’s top-ten hit single, “Stay With Me,” which has just surpassed sales of one million copies this week in the US alone.
The record-setting first-week sales figure for Smith’s U.S. debut reflects Sam’s burgeoning popularity in the US. A forthcoming North American tour in September has completely sold out including The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York and the Riviera Theater in Chicago. This precedes Sam’s homecoming UK tour, also sold out.
Critics have lauded Smith and his music with huge accolades coming from TIME Magazine, Associated Press and The New York Times as well as on this side of the pond The Observer, i-D and Sunday Times Culture naming him ‘the voice of 2014’.
On his phenomenal US success, Capitol Music Group Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett, “We are thrilled that American audiences are embracing Sam Smith and In The Lonely Hour so strongly. Sam’s stirring and revealing songs, as well as his one-of-a-kind voice and soulful delivery, is a combination that’s compelling and imbued with artistry. We are still at the early stages of presenting Sam Smith and his music to U.S. audiences, but this record-setting first week is certainly a strong sign of music fans’ recognition that a great new artist has arrived.”
