Sam Smith is a star on the rise. With a beautiful voice, the British singer has risen to the charts with tracks like ‘La La La’, ‘I’m Not the Only One’ and ‘Stay With Me’.

He’s also racked up a plethora of awards for his talent including MOBOs for Best Song, Best Album and Best Male Artist while at the American Music Awards he won for Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock. And on top of this, he’s also making a name for himself in Hollywood with friends such as Taylor Swift, Dianna Agron and Katy Perry.

But earlier this year the singer made headlines for an entirely different reason when after coming out as gay earlier this year (his album ‘In The Lonely Hour’ is about an ex-boyfriend) he said that he didn’t want to be a spokesperson for the gay community. However, in a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show he clarified his comments.

“I’m a singer and a songwriter. I get upset sometimes because I don’t talk about it too much. People say, ‘he doesn’t want to be a spokesperson for the gay community.’ I do, of course I do. I want to be a spokesperson for everyone. Ya know, straight people, gay people, bisexual. I don’t want to be limited.”

Sam Smith

Understandably the singer doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed nor does he want to be put on a pedestal for his gayness – after all ‘spokesperson’ is a nice title to have but as Sam Smith is only 22 years old it seems like an unnecessary weight to place on his shoulders. And, as Ellen noted, for many people his coming out is enough as it shows people that he is gay and successful and could inspire others to feel better about their own sexuality.

During the interview he also added that he’s known he was gay from a young age and that coming out in the public eye felt “brave”:

“It didn’t feel like a coming out. I came out when I was like four years old, my mom said she knew when I was like three. So I didn’t have to actually properly come out.”

Sam Smith

Watch the clip from Sam’s interview below…