Sam Smith honors Tom Petty with gorgeous cover after 'upsetting' copyright dispute Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY October 16, 2025 at 1:06 PM 12 NEW YORK − Sam Smith is returning to their roots in spectacular fashion.
- - Sam Smith honors Tom Petty with gorgeous cover after 'upsetting' copyright dispute
Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY October 16, 2025 at 1:06 PM
12
NEW YORK − Sam Smith is returning to their roots in spectacular fashion.
The first time this reporter saw Smith perform live, it was at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom in fall 2014. Smartly suited all in black, with their hair perfectly coifed, the British breakout dazzled the modest venue with their exquisite voice, singing a slew of newly notched hits including "Latch," "La La La" and "I'm Not the Only One."
One Oscar, three arena tours and five Grammy Awards later, Smith, who uses they/them pronouns, is back and enchanting audiences with a 24-show residency at Warsaw in Brooklyn, which they'll bring to San Francisco's Castro Theatre early next year.
Tucked away on an unassuming street in the Greenpoint neighborhood, the baroque, historic Warsaw holds just 1,000 people in its intimate, standing-room-only setting − a callback to the types of places where Smith, 33, began their career.
Sam Smith performs onstage during their "To Be Free: New York City" residency at Warsaw in Brooklyn on Oct. 15.
The pop shapeshifter, who moved to New York last year, said it was "a dream" to "just roll out of bed" and come play a concert.
"Talking about bed, I woke up with a really stiff neck," Smith drolly bantered at the top of the evening on Oct. 15. "I'm getting older − it's really intense! So if you came to see me whip my hair tonight, it's not going to happen."
Smith went on to explain they've been touring since they were 21 and found performing in arenas "incredible" yet "intense."
With this Warsaw residency, they said, "I just wanted the chance to look at everyone in your eyes again and see you and reconnect after a (expletive) mad 10 years."
Sam Smith honors Tom Petty after 'Stay With Me' settlement
British singer Sam Smith, center, broke out in 2014 thanks to "Stay with Me" and Disclosure's "Latch."
Dressed in a plaid button-down and skirt with gold hoop earrings, Smith bewitched the crowd with playful elegance and ethereal vocals throughout the hour-and-a-half set. They opened the show with the soulful "To Be Free," gracefully raising their arms in the air as the gentle ballad hit its emotional crescendo. The singer sprinkled a handful of previously unreleased songs into the mix, one of which they dedicated to their "beautiful boyfriend," fashion designer Christian Cowan.
Here, Smith was at the peak of their chameleonic, self-actualized powers: slipping into country-fried twang for a vibrant cover of John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery," before going full Beyoncé for a sizzling spin on their sultry chart-topper "Unholy." Thanks in part to the stripped-down arrangements, Smith uncovered breathtaking new shades of hit singles "Promises" and "Dancing with a Stranger" and transformed "Lay Me Down" into a stirring duet with opening act Sienna Spiro.
Of course, the audience became a sea of smartphones when Smith sat down to croon their signature hit "Stay with Me," which they performed campfire-style at the front of the stage with a quartet of guitars. Afterward, Smith candidly shared a story about the song that "I've wanted to get off my chest for a while." Months after its release in 2014, the singer agreed to pay songwriting royalties to Tom Petty because of similarities with the rocker's "I Won't Back Down."
"That was a really wild time for me because – I have to be honest, and I'm embarrassed to say this – but when I wrote that song, I never actually heard Tom Petty," Smith said wryly. "I am gay, as you all know! It didn't quite reach me. It was incredibly annoying and upsetting, because I love that song. It came from my heart and my life at that time."
Sam Smith released their most recent album, "Gloria," in 2023.
The night before the 2015 Grammys, where "Stay with Me" won record and song of the year, Smith received a handwritten letter from Petty.
"He told me that he didn't want me to worry; he said there's only so many notes on the piano and he was very, very sweet," Smith said. "But I was so young and a little bit silly, and I was just so pissed off and so angry when I got his letter that I never actually replied to him. And sadly, a year later, he passed away, and I never ever got a chance to say thank you for being so sweet at that time.
"I know Tom Petty's music now and I love Tom Petty's music," Smith continued as they introduced an elegiac take on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "It'll All Work Out." It was a poignant, full-circle moment that reflected where Smith has been – and the beautiful possibilities of all that lies ahead.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sam Smith covers Tom Petty, John Prine at stunning residency
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