Sam Smith and Kim Petras set unique LGBTQ+ Billboard chart record with ‘Unholy’
Sam Smith and Kim Petras have become the first openly non-binary and transgender artists, respectively, to top the Billboard Hot 100 with their collaborative single ‘Unholy’.
- READ MORE: Sam Smith – ‘Love Goes’ review: pop balladeer leans even further into heartbreak than before
Billboard reports that the single is the first number one for both artists – with Smith having previously peaked at number two in 2014 with their song ‘Stay With Me’, and Petras having never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 before. Petras has, however, charted on Billboard‘s Dance/Electronic Songs chart – her track with Cheat Codes, ‘Feeling of Falling’, peaked at number 23, while her 2020 Kygo collaboration ‘Broken Glass’ charted at number 13.
Petras shared the news on her Instagram page, stating that she was “so grateful” for the song’s success. “Sam, I can’t thank you enough for riding with me for years at this point,” she wrote.
“I’m so honored to be a part of your first number one in the US, which you should have 500 of at this point.”
The only other non-binary artist to have topped the Billboard chart previously is Halsey, who uses both they/them and she/her pronouns. However, both of their number one singles – ‘Closer’ with The Chainsmokers in 2016, and ‘Without Me’ in 2018 – came before they publicly came out in 2021.
Smith and Petras released ‘Unholy’ last month. It serves as the second single from Smith’s fourth studio album ‘Gloria’, which is set for release in January of 2023, following on from April’s ‘Love Me More’. Petras, meanwhile, is reportedly working on her third studio album from scratch – despite saying an album was “fully done”, the singer tweeted back in August that the album had been scrapped.
The post Sam Smith and Kim Petras set unique LGBTQ+ Billboard chart record with ‘Unholy’ appeared first on NME.
