Sam Smith thinks it’s “a shame” there are no female nominees for Best Artist at the BRIT Awards.
The ‘Unholy’ hitmaker – who is non-binary and uses gender-neutral pronouns – was one of the first musicians to call for the ceremony to be “reflective”, prompting organizers to turn the event into the first major awards of the UK to abolish gender categories, but still think there is “a long way to go” after the shortlist for this year’s prestigious award contained only male nominees.
Sam said of the controversy: “It’s a shame.
“Things are moving forward, but it is obvious that it is not there yet. To see this [best artist] list, there is still a long way to go.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. “Seems like it should be easy to do.
“[The BRITs] just celebrate everyone because it’s not just about artists getting awards. The awards are for kids watching on TV, thinking, “I can make music like that.” When I was young, if I had seen more queer people at these awards, it would have lightened my heart. The awards are there to inspire.”
The 30-year-old singer believes there are many female artists who should have been shortlisted, instead of just Harry Styles, Stormzy, George Ezra, Central Cee and Fred Again being left to fight for the award.
Asked which women should have been shortlisted, they said: “Cat Burns. Anne Maria. Florence Welch. There’s so much amazing female talent in the UK – they should be on this list.”
Meanwhile, while Sam believes their new album ‘Gloria’ is their most authentic record yet, they insisted they were never ‘inauthentic’ – just not as comfortable with themselves.
Sam said: “I’ve always been genuine.
“I think asking a 24-year-old to be 100 percent in front of 20,000 people would never happen. I showed 70 percent of who I was then and a lot of that has to do with me being gay. As I got older, though, I realized there was no shame in it. I wasn’t being authentic, just keep some things to yourself until you’re ready.”
