Sam Smith lights up Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Six-time Grammy winner brought his powerful vocals on his first gig in the UAE capital
Grammy-winning singer Sam Smith brought his powerful vocals to the du Arena on Saturday night as part of the Yasalam after-race concert on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The singer opened the evening with One Last Song from his superhit album The Thrill of It All, and followed it up with The Only One and the soulful Lay Me Down.
Smith, a six-time Grammy winner, addressed the crowd, thanking all the ‘beautiful humans’ from the bottom of his heart, for joining him on his first ever performance in Abu Dhabi. At one point, he asked the crowd to lift up their lit phones, so that he could see ‘all of their beautiful faces’ as he delivered a rendition of powerhouse hit, ‘Latch’. He then picked up the tempo, performing catchy pop ballad, ‘Money on My Mind’, encouraging fans to dance.
“I know some of my songs are depressing, but I promise we will dance,” he joked.
Smith earned a Guinness World Record title after his debut album ‘In the Lonely Hour’ broke the record for the Most Consecutive Weeks in the UK Top 10 Album Charts with a 69 week stay.
With an encore that included one of his biggest hits, ‘Stay With Me’, he closed the show with ‘Pray’, a song that was inspired by his trip to Mosul in Iraq with the charity War Child.
Smith’s performance followed American rapper Post Malone, who performed on Thursday, and R’n’B singer The Weeknd, whose appearance led to en emergency closure of gates, on Friday. Rock icons Guns N’Roses will close off the after-race series on Sunday night.