Amy Winehouse
Smith's deeply confessional songwriting and raw emotional delivery draws directly from Winehouse's blueprint established on 'Back to Black.' Her ability to channel personal pain into universal anthems, particularly her vocal phrasing that balances technical precision with lived-in vulnerability, provided the template for Smith's approach to songs like 'Stay With Me.' Winehouse proved that British soul singers could achieve global success while maintaining authenticity, opening the path Smith would follow.
Adele
The commercial and artistic success of Adele's '21' demonstrated that piano-driven, emotionally direct ballads could dominate contemporary pop without compromise. Smith adopted her approach of building songs around simple, powerful chord progressions that support rather than compete with vocal performance. Adele's use of gospel-influenced melisma and her ability to convey intimate stories on a massive scale became central to Smith's own artistic identity.
Whitney Houston
Houston's technical mastery, particularly her controlled use of vibrato and seamless register transitions heard throughout 'Whitney Houston' (1985), became fundamental to Smith's vocal technique. Her ability to start songs with restraint before building to climactic vocal displays provided the dynamic template Smith employs across their catalog. Houston's influence is most evident in Smith's live performances, where they channel her tradition of using technical prowess to heighten emotional impact rather than simply showcase range.
Context
Sam Smith emerged from London's underground house and electronic scene in the early 2010s, initially gaining recognition through collaborations with Disclosure on tracks like 'Latch.' This timing positioned them at the intersection of UK garage's revival, the global EDM boom, and the British soul renaissance that followed Winehouse and Adele's success. Their rise coincided with increased mainstream visibility for LGBTQ+ artists and conversations about gender identity in pop music. Smith's breakthrough occurred during a moment when streaming platforms were democratizing music discovery, allowing for more nuanced, album-focused artistry to find massive audiences without traditional radio gatekeeping.
Legacy
Smith's success paved the way for emotionally vulnerable male pop vocalists like Lewis Capaldi and Harry Styles' more introspective work, proving that male artists could achieve commercial success through traditionally 'feminine' expressions of sensitivity and emotional openness. Their frank discussions of gender identity and use of they/them pronouns in mainstream pop contexts has influenced how younger artists approach questions of identity in their public personas and music.
Why it matters
Understanding Smith's influences reveals how they synthesized the British soul revival's emotional directness with contemporary production techniques and queer identity politics to create a distinctly modern sound. Their work represents a crucial bridge between the analog soul traditions of Winehouse and Houston and the digital-native pop landscape, showing how classic vocal techniques can be recontextualized for contemporary audiences. Recognizing these connections illuminates how Smith's apparent simplicity actually masks sophisticated musical craftsmanship rooted in decades of vocal and songwriting tradition.