Sam Smith broke down in tears as they began their first world tour in five years last night.
During the emotional opening act, the Dancing with a Stranger singer thanked fans for their support in recent years.
As they took to the stage in Sheffield, Smith lovingly told fans that they would ‘sing for you every night’ as a thank you.
It’s been an intense few years for the musician, who recently gained their eighth number-one with the single Unholy – which also featured trans singer Kim Petras.
Although the track broke records across the world and even won a Grammy award, both artists were criticised for the anthem’s LGBTQ+ themes.
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It had been Smith’s first release in two years and the star came under fire for appearing in increasingly gender-fluid costumes as they promoted the track, despite coming out as non-binary in 2019.
At the time, Smith spoke about the difficulties they’d experienced as a young person and revealed that they would be using they/them pronouns going forward.
In a heartbreaking post on Instagram, Smith admitted to fans that they spent ‘a lifetime being war’ with their gender before finally embracing who they are ‘inside and out’.
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Whilst Smith has become more comfortable with their gender and even became the first openly non-binary star to win a Grammy, the Too Good at Goodbyes singer still wanted to thank their fans for all their support.
As they took to the stage last night, the Brit award winner gave an emotional speech about the last few years and even broke down as they spoke.
Dressed in a stunning corset, they said: "I just want to say thank you so much for being with me through these crazy times, it means the world to me. As long as you are happy, I will sing for you every night.”
Fighting back the tears, they continued: “Thank you for being here. Tonight is my chance to give as much energy to you to give you a good time. This show is about love and a show about freedom. It is so important to me that you all look to your left and right and say hello to everyone near you.”
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The singer then stressed that the concert would be an LGBTQ+-friendly space, where fans could feel comfortable just being themselves.
“This is a safe space and you can do whatever you want. I want you to have fun, and nothing can go wrong. I love you all. thank you for being here."
After the sell-out concert had finished, Sam even went outside to meet with fans before embarking on the next leg of the Gloria tour.
Katherine Sidnell