Sam Smith Talks Album Success & Tributing Whitney Houston With ‘On Air With Ryan Seacrest’: Watch

Sam Smith recently sat down with Ryan Seacrest to chat it up on his radio show, On Air With Ryan Seacrest. In the interview, the “Restart” crooner spoke about how he’s handling the great success of In The Lonely Hour and that he’s started to write songs for his next album.

The singer reveals he was a bit nervous to release his debut, as he didn’t want people to think he was miserable: “I was scared before releasing this record because obviously Adele did her sad record, and there’s a lot of sad music out there. I don’t want to be sad as a person, but it’s where I was last year.”

He also shares the story behind “I’m Not The Only One,” which was about a married couple that he knew: “That song always makes me laugh, because I was really hungover when I vocaled it…it all added to the vibe. That very vocal was a hungover vocal!”

Smith also reveals that he prefer listening to female singers over male ones, citing acts like Whitney Houston as his inspiration. “That was completely stir of the moment,” he said about his cover of the icon’s “How Will I Know.” “We were sick of singing the same songs and talking about the same things, so I decided to spice it up a bit. I feel like it’s a beautiful way to remember her without trying to copy her.”

Mary J. Blige (whom he recorded a duet version of “Stay” with) called the radio to gush over Smith: “This is why I consistently call Sam ‘a gift’ because we haven’t had this in a minute, and this is a blessing to so many of us, like people are coming in droves because it’s like his voice is just therapy for people, you know.”

Watch a clip of the interview up top, and listen to the rest here where Smith discusses what he’d name his army of fans and his love for Lady Gaga.

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