Sam Smith’s self-proclaimed “villain era” is off to a history-making start.
The four-time Grammy winner hits the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this week with “Unholy,” their new song with Kim Petras. The achievement makes Smith the first nonbinary artist to reach No. 1 on the chart, which measures the 100 most popular songs in the U.S. Petras, in turn, becomes the first openly transgender artist to do so.
The news may come as a surprise to Smith’s fans, given that the British singer-songwriter has reportedly sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and won an Oscar for “Writing’s on the Wall,” from the 2015 James Bond film, “Spectre.”
Prior to “Unholy,” Smith’s highest-charting song was 2014’s “Stay With Me,” which peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
On Tuesday, Smith said they were “honestly speechless” and “extremely happy” by the success of “Unholy.”
“This song is so special to me for so many reasons and I am just so proud of everyone involved for their bravery and guts and spirit,” they wrote on Instagram. “I am so honored to get to work with such incredibly talented musicians and humans. And Kim… what magic you are. You are a treasure and an inspiration to so many.”
Petras echoed those sentiments, thanking Smith for “riding with me for years at this point.”
“I’m so honored to be a part of your first number one in the US which you should have 500 of at this point,” she wrote on Instagram. “I love you forever angel.”
“Unholy” is set to appear on “Gloria,” Smith’s fourth studio album. Due out in January 2023, “Gloria” is their first new record since 2020’s “Love Goes” and, according to the musician, represents “a transitional three years in my life.”
Though Smith maintains that their music has “always been queer,” they recently acknowledged that their fan base has shifted ever since they began living as their true self in 2019.
“In terms of music, I definitely feel like there are some people that have turned away, I think, purely down to homophobia and transphobia,” Smith told podcaster Annie Mac earlier this month. “That’s a hard thing to take on, that people are digesting your music in a different way. It’s fascinating how people’s politics sometimes can leak into their love of music.”
Catch the music video for “Unholy” below.