A Quote by Sam Smith

My mum and dad used to make me stand up at dinner parties and sing to their friends. I had this conservatory in my house - three steps went to up to kind of a raised part of our kitchen. I used it as the stage. Every night after school I used to download backing tracks of songs I loved and perform to myself. My mum was trying to cook and I was pretending I was at the O2 arena.
My mum and dad used to make me stand up at dinner parties and sing to their friends.
We had poverty in our house. Even on the council estate I knew I was one of the poorer kids. I used to go round my friends houses on a Sunday to get their Sunday dinner because my mum couldn't cook either so I used to love going round my mates and say: 'Can you ask your Mum if I can come in for Sunday dinner?'
My mum was my primary school cook which was handy because she used to give me extra portions. After school me and my brother used to go in the kitchen and wait for her there, and she used to give us a bit of cake and things.
My dad is an art director for BBC TV shows, and my mum does screen printing workshops. Both of my parents played instruments, too, and my mum used to have crazy house parties when me and my brother were young - dub and garage would be banging through my house.
I could always sing, from a really young age, but my voice was really weird. I used to make my mum turn up the radio every day in our house. She was well into music so I got that from her.
Music was always a big part of our family life. My dad's brother used to play the harmonica at family parties, and my mum was in the Luton Girls Choir, who did lots of radio broadcasts and performances in the 50s. I have older cousins who used to play me their soul and ska records.
Mum prayed to the Lord that when her children were born they wouldn't be tone deaf. Mum says at two years old I was singing my own little songs, she didn't know where I'd heard it so I must have made it up. I used to sing along with the radio.
My mum was a big fan of E.L.O. and Elvis Costello. She used to play that, consistently, all the time when we were kids. And my dad, he would claim to be a singer... You know, he loves singing, and he used to sing a lot when he was a kid and at parties and stuff like that. So I come from a very party-musical family.
My dad had a flock of sheep, which he used to milk, and then my mum used to make cheese and yogurt out of the sheep's milk and sell it. It was kind of an unusual upbringing, really.
There's always been music in my house growing up. In the kitchen, there's a speaker, and we'd always have my mum's iPod in it - she never makes food without listening to music. And I used to watch 'Top of the Pops' with my dad.
I told my mum recently, when I used to envisage my adulthood, it was just me working at a corner shop that mum and dad could drive me to and pick me up from. I couldn't ever imagine living on my own and having a job that I wanted to do. Because I never saw it.
Mum and Dad used to always follow me and support me, taking me to Newcastle on a Sunday morning after getting up at 7 A.M. They have always supported my football but always told me how important school was.
My mum is from Ghana, and she used to play highlife music in the house, and my dad used to listen to music.
One thing I had more than anything, I had love and support from my mum and dad. My mum used to say: 'I don't care if you become a dustman or a doctor, you can be who you want.'
My family prayed a lot, but we didn't really go to church. On Sunday, my mum and dad used to always tell me to read the Bible. That was important for me growing up, and I still do that every morning. It's something that is part of my routine, and I do it every day, whether it's a normal game or a big one.
I always used to sing in the house and I went to school at Hywel Dda Primary School in Ely. I think they had a puppet-type show there and word got around I could sing. I sang at that puppet performance and used to sing in school. From there, it was in my blood. I didn't want to do anything else but sing.
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