Myles Michael Smith-Thompson (born 3 June 1998) is a British singer and songwriter from

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, England. He is best known for his 2024 singles " Stargazing" and " Nice to Meet You". In 2025, he was considered as one of the most influential people in the world in 2025 by ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

''.

Early life

Smith was born to a

British Jamaican British Jamaicans (or Jamaican British people) are British people who were born in Jamaica or who are of Jamaican descent. The community is well into its third generation and consists of around 300,000 individuals, the second-largest Jamaican ...

family in

on 3 June 1998 and raised in an ethnically diverse community. He grew up listening to a broad range of music, including

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

, singer/songwriters, and

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

. As his interest in music grew, he bought a guitar and learned to play. He began performing covers at parties and open-mic nights, focusing on songwriters such as

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, Marcus Mumford, and

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

. From a young age, Smith taught himself to play guitar and piano, and by the age of 12, he was performing at local open-mic nights. Growing up in

, he was influenced by the town's cultural diversity and local music scene, which included family pubs and Irish music. This environment encouraged him to break boundaries and develop his individual musical style. Smith holds a degree from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, having graduated in 2019.

Career

Smith began posting on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and in the autumn of 2022, a clip posted caught the attention of Eric Parker, an attorney and CEO of Extended Play Music Group, who offered to be Smith’s manager. Together, they took an unconventional approach, building an audience before making a record. Smith kept posting online, recording covers of songs to cultivate a following that would be receptive to the sorts of original tracks he wanted to write. He first gained significant attention with his covers, including

Amber Run Amber Run are a British indie rock band from Nottingham, composed of Joshua "Joe" Keogh, Tom Sperring, and Henry Wyeth. The band have released three full-length albums, three mini-albums, and five EPs. Initially called Amber, they later changed ...

's "I Found". In late 2023, Myles released several singles including "My Home" and "

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

". This online success led to a record deal with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. In March 2024, Smith released his debut EP, '' You Promised a Lifetime''. "Stargazing" was released on 10 May 2024 and was written by Smith, Jesse Fink, and Peter Fenn, the latter of whom produced it. The song contains themes of "self-discovery and introspection", with Myles describing the inspiration as being rooted in the idea of lifelong love, conceived during his time in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

earlier in the year. Myles, a native of Luton, performed on the BBC Music Introducing Stage at the Radio 1 Big Weekend on 25 May 2024. The event, held at

Stockwood Park Stockwood Park is a large urban park in Luton, Bedfordshire, in the Farley Hill, Bedfordshire, Farley Hill estate. With period formal gardens, leading crafts museums, Stockwood Park Rugby Club and extensive golfing facilities, it is about 100 h ...

in his hometown, was his first festival performance. His performance was supported by

BBC Music Introducing BBC Music Introducing is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. The backbone of that network consists of 32 BBC local radio shows on stations across England and the Channel Islands, various ...

, a platform by BBC Radio for unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. His performance was specifically supported by BBC Three Counties Radio. He won the BBC Introducing Artist of the Year award for 2024.. A year later, he performed on the main stage of BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend. He received 3 nominations at the 2025 BRIT Awards, including receiving the BRIT Rising Star Award, at the broadcast ceremony on 1 March 2025.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Other releases

Tours

* The Slightly Less Lonely Tour (2024) * We Were Never Strangers Tour (2024–25)

Notes

References

{{Navboxes , title = Awards for Myles Smith , list = {{BBC Introducing {{Brit Critics' Choice 1998 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century English male singers Alumni of the University of Nottingham Black British musicians English male songwriters English people of Jamaican descent Musicians from Luton Brit Award winners Sony Music UK artists