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Sam Smith and Kim Petras are the first openly nonbinary and transgender artists to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
The two artists collaborated on “Unholy,” the viral song on the internet today.
Billboard praised their success on Twitter, writing:
“@samsmith and @kimpetras are the first publicly non-binary and transgender artists, respectively, to earn a No. 1 song on the #Hot100, thanks to ‘Unholy.'”
Unholy
The Sam Smith and Kim Petras collaboration has been teased for quite some time, and the highly anticipated song was finally released last month.
“Unholy” is a gripping song about an illicit relationship wherein a man’s son witnesses his infidelity.
A preview of the song made it one of the most used sounds on TikTok.
Since the release, the accompanying music video for “Unholy” has been viewed over 29 million times on YouTube.
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Reaction
The success of “Unholy” marks a momentous milestone for Sam Smith and Kim Petras.
It is Smith’s eighth UK number-one after a series of hits, including the Grammy-winning song “Stay With Me.”
However, “Unholy” marks Kim Petras’ first mainstream hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sam Smith and Kim Petras
Kim Petras is the transgender woman to achieve a significant milestone in the music industry.
She took to Instagram to share the news with over 777,000 of her followers.
“Sam, I can’t thank you enough for riding with me for years at this point,” Petras wrote.
“I’m so honored to be part of your first number one in the US which you should have 500 of at this point.”
“I love you forever angel Sam.”
Meanwhile, Sam Smith also posted on Instagram to share their excitement with their fans, saying they were “speechless, overwhelmed, nauseous, and extremely happy.”
“I am so honoured [sic] to get to work with such incredibly talented musicians and humans.”
“And Kim… what magic you are. You are a treasure and an inspiration to so many. Thank you for jumping with me.”
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Albums
Sam Smith and Kim Petras collaborated on the song, which will be part of Smith’s “Gloria” album.
The Grammy-winning artist will release the album in January next year.
The last album by Sam Smith, “Love Goes,” was released in 2020, and it generated hits like “Dancing with a Stranger” and “Diamonds.”
Meanwhile, Kim Petras made her official debut with “I Don’t Want It at All” in 2017.
In February, she released her EP “Slut Pop.”
Kim Petras previously told British outlet Metro that while she is a transgender activist, she wants the focus to be on her talent, not her gender.
“I want to be taken seriously,” said Petras.
She wants the same thing as other artists: focus on the quality of her music, nothing else.
Reference:
Sam Smith and Kim Petras are first nonbinary and trans artists to reach number 1 on Billboard chart
