Sam Smith is taking a career break
Oh, won't you stay with us?!
Sam Smith is taking a (well deserved) break from the spotlight, following a massive publicity push surrounding his new James Bond "Spectre" theme song, "Writing's On the Wall."
"I am sad, but also it feels right," Smith told ET backstage at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday, where he performed as part of CBS Radio's We Can Survive concert event in honor of breast cancer awareness. "It's my last performance in America, and it feels right to do it in such a beautiful setting."
On the heels of a highly successful debut album -- which scored Smith four GRAMMY awards in 2015, including Best New Artist -- Smith says it's time to step away from performing and focus on gaining new inspiration for his "In the Lonely Hour" follow-up.
"I've been going now for three years nonstop and it feels right for me to just go home and just live my life and be a 23-year-old," he said. "My love life, the downs and ups, it never stops, so I'm always inspired by stuff like that, but it'd be good to spend some time dating."
Earlier this year, Smith was forced into an unwelcome break in order to undergo surgery on his vocal cords. The procedure caused the cancellation of several tour dates throughout May and June. Since then, Smith says he's been crafting ideas for his sophomore album.
"I have been writing a little bit," he shared. "Already I have a little bit of a direction of what I want to say and what I want to do and the sound, how I want things to sound, but there's a long way to go."
In the meantime, we could be seeing more of Smith throughout the upcoming awards season. His "Spectre"theme song is in contention for 2016 Golden Globes and Academy Awards nominations, though he just missed the cutoff for Gramms consideration.
"It was a dream of mine to do Bond, but I never thought it would happen this quickly," Smith said. "It's been an absolute whirlwind of an experience, but I love this song so much and when you see it with the film, it will all make complete sense."
Still, Smith hadn't yet seen the film himself at the time of our interview. He penned the track after reading the "Spectre"script, but opted out of viewing the finished product ahead of time.
"I was told I could see it, but I wanted to save it and go with my family -- and Will and Kate, the Prince and Princess," he said with a smile, referencing the film's upcoming U.K. premiere. "It's going to be so great."
On Monday, Smith shared this snapshot of his red carpet preparations -- looking dapper in a white jacket, martini glass in hand.
Looking more slim than ever, Smith recently told Britain's NMEmagazine that he still feels "pressure to look a certain way."
"For women, the pressure in this industry is horrendous and it's got to stop," he said. "But it's the same for guys, even though they won't speak about it."
Clarifying his remarks with ET, Smith said that "there's more pressure on women, but it's tough for everyone."
"Anyone who's in the limelight, looked at every day, you're gonna want to look a certain way," he said. "I'm feeling alright at the moment," he added, with a giggle, "I'm definitely having In N Out burger tonight while I'm in L.A. -- it's a constant battle. But I'm feeling good at the moment."
Just last year -- before Smith was a household name -- ET caught up with the superstar in the making and learned about his surprising lack of love life at the time! See the interview in the player below.