LONDON – October 22, 2015 — (UPI) — British singer Sam Smith retracted an earlier statement in which he said he didn’t want be a spokesperson for just the gay community, revealing now his aim is to be just that.
Speaking with NME in an interview published Thursday, the “Writing’s On The Wall” songwriter said as a gay man, he desires to be a voice for others who may not have one.
“I want to be a spokesperson. I want to be a figure in the gay community, who speaks for gay men,” he told the outlet. “I sell records in countries where gay men get killed and that’s a big thing for me, because maybe one person in that country will pick up my album, realize it’s by a gay artist, and it might change their opinion.”
In 2014, Smith expressed his desire to be more than a symbol for the homosexual community. Smith later explained that those comments related specifically to his album, In The Lonely Hour.
“What I was trying to say was that I didn’t want the album to appeal to just one community, I wanted to appeal to all of them,” he said. “I wanted anyone, gay or straight, to be able to relate to me singing about men, like I was able to relate to Stevie Wonder or John Legend singing about girls.”
In 2014, Smith told Digital Spy he wasn’t looking to be an international advocate for homosexuality, but an artist. “It sounds awful of me, but I’m really just trying to live my life and write music about it,” he said. “That’s what I do. I’m not trying to heal the world.”
That December, the singer further clarified his statements after receiving backlash for his apparent disinterest in being a voice for the community which he is a part. “People say to me, ‘He doesn’t want to be a spokesperson for the gay community.’ It’s like, I do. Of course, I do,” he told Ellen Degeneres. “But I want to be a spokesperson for everyone: straight people, gay people, bisexual. I don’t want to be limited.
