Sam Smith
THEN: Like most of the world, we took notice of British crooner Sam Smith as his vocals took Disclosure's 2012 single "Latch." But it was his own solo work that led us to name him Bounce-Worthy the following year. The angelic-voiced tenor made us fall in love with his soulful single "Lay Me Down" and had us hoping for me.
NOW: Well, we most certainly got what were hoping for. Sam released his solo debut, In the Lonely Hour, in May of this year and has since taken the world by storm. His song "Stay With Me" is perhaps one of the best-selling (and most-covered) singles of the year, and even caught the attention of Queen of Hip Hop Soul herself, Mary J. Blige, who joined him on a duet version of the track and enlisted his help on her upcoming project, The London Sessions. Look for Sam's name to come up when next year's GRAMMY nominations are announced.
