Sam Smith has revealed that they turned down the opportunity to collaborate with Major Lazer on their song ‘Cold Water’.
The ‘Unholy’ singer appeared as a guest on BBC Sounds’ Sidetracked with Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac. During the chat, Smith opened up about being offered the track and having to turn the opportunity down. ‘Cold Water’ ultimately went to Justin Bieber and peaked at Number One on the UK Singles Chart and Number Two on the US Billboard Hot 100.
“The only time I got sent a song that I heard and then became a well-known song was ‘Cold Water’ by Major Lazer with Justin Bieber,” the singer told Grimshaw and Mac. “They sent me that to sing and at the time I was so busy and couldn’t do it and we passed on it – but I’m happy I passed on it because Justin Bieber did it way better than what I would have done. It was made for him.”
Smith also opened up about working with Calvin Harris, sharing that it was unbelievable. The two have collaborated on the songs ‘Promises’ and ‘Desire’.
“I didn’t know what to expect with Calvin because I was like, is this, you know, what does he do? Because some people in the studio, it’s like ‘oh, you don’t play an instrument’. Like you don’t actually make the music. You’re more of a taste maker, which is fab. But he does everything himself. And I was immediately just enamoured by his talent. We just had so much fun making ‘Promises’. It was the funnest day. I think you can hear that in the writing,” they said.
They added: “He’s an amazing man, and he’s come to my aid and supported me and built me up at times when I really needed him.”
Elsewhere in the chat, the ‘Too Good At Goodbyes’ singer discussed what can be expected from their BBC Proms performance which is set to take place early next month (any remaining tickets can be purchased here).
“In the first half [of the show] I’m going to celebrate [ten years of] ‘In the Lonely Hour…’ and then the second half is a little surprise. I’m so excited. I love the proms, it’s great. And everyone needs to relax, I’m not going to get my clothes off!” they shared.
They continued: “It’s going to be beautiful. All my family are coming down. And it’s an opportunity for me to just remind people of my love of music, especially British music – and where I’ve come from. I want to show people a little bit of where I come from musically.”
In other news, Smith recently revealed that they have re-recorded ‘Stay With Me’ for its 10th anniversary.